


I’d Rather Be Lee

by Sreeder



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Past Child Abuse, Zuko (Avatar) whump, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 64,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29160903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sreeder/pseuds/Sreeder
Summary: Jet attacks Zuko in Ba Sing Se, instead of Zuko letting Jet get dragged away by the Dai Li, he tries to help Jet get away. As a result they both end up captured and brainwashed. The Gaang finds Jet and when Katara goes to try and heal his memories she realizes she can see the recovered memories herself.She discovers that Zuko was captured as well. The Gaang goes to rescue Zuko and Appa only to find that Zuko is no longer Zuko.He is Lee, from Ba Sing Se.Katara has to help him recover his memories and help him heal. Its going to be a rough ride, and she has to watch it all.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Ozai & Zuko, Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Longshot & Smellerbee & Zuko, Jet & The Gaang (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Ozai & Zuko (Avatar), Smellerbee & Zuko, Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko, Ursa & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 127
Kudos: 243





	1. Brainwashed

# Brainwashed

Jet was convinced.

They were fire benders.

He knew it, he just had to prove it. 

Busting into the tea shop made so much sense in Jet’s mind. It was the perfect way to get the old man to defend himself with fire, all he had to do was bait him into a fight. 

Before the old man could even react, Lee grabbed the pair of dual broadswords off one of the local soldiers and engaged in a fight with Jet. Both boys were evenly matched, taking the fight out into the street after nearly destroying the tea shop. No matter what Jet said he could not convince Lee or the older man to use fire bending to defend themselves. 

“The Fire Nation is trying to silence me! It’ll never happen!”

Jet stood on a the ledge of a stone well in the center of the street, a crowd was beginning to form as the boy’s fight was escalating into an open area.

As if on cue, two Dai Li agents appeared out of the darkness. 

“Drop your weapons, now!”

Jet jumped back, pointing one of his swords at the boy with a scar.

“Arrest them, they’re fire benders!”

The old man shook his hands, he had a panicked look in his eyes. He stood off to the side of the commotion with the tea shop owner and the two soldiers that witnessed the entire fight unfold.

“No, no this poor boy is confused! We are just simple refugees.”

The Dai Li listened to the tea maker and soldiers try to defend the boy that Jet had attacked, saying he was just defending himself. 

The moon was out and the gold reflected off the boy’s eyes as he stood in the light with the swords in both hands. The scar always made him look like he had a scowl on his face. The Dai Li agents looked at each other and nodded. 

“Alright, come with me.”

They made an advance towards Jet, using their earth bending they tried to restrain him with their stone cuffs. Jet sliced through the first pair and dodged the second, he dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way as two more stone restraints flew towards him. 

One of the cuffs caught his wrist and dragged his arm down to the floor. Jet let out a scream as he tried to pull himself loose. He looked at Lee, the boy who he attacked just a moment before. 

“Please! Help me! Don’t let them take me! They will kill me! The Dai Li are ruthless!”

Lee looked confused, he could simply go back to the tea shop and finish his shift with his uncle. There was a strong nagging in his mind to do the right thing and save the crazy boy with the grass mouth. The Dai Li were moving in on Jet as he blocked another of their advances with his one free arm, his hooked blade swinging wildly. 

Lee couldn’t help himself.

He didn’t like Jet, at all. 

In fact, he thinks he might hate him.

And his stupid mouth grass.

But Lee was a good person and he couldn’t stand by and let these men haul Jet away to wherever they took people who spoke about the war, or fire benders. Lee has heard rumors about the Dai Li and no matter how much of an asshole Jet was, he didn’t deserve to be dragged away and locked up. 

Lee looked at his uncle, he tried to ignore the pleading look the old man gave him, he practically begged him to stand down and not get involved any further. But Lee wasn’t a ‘back down’ kind of guy. 

He charged forward and blocked the Dai Li’s advances. He stood between them and Jet. 

“Thank you…”

Jet was so relieved to see Lee step in to save him. The Dai Li began to attack Lee, he was prepared to fight the earth benders. His month of being on his own and fighting earth bending soldiers gave him an edge on the incoming attacks. 

Things were looking good for Lee and Jet. Lee managed to cut through Jet’s restraints and both boys were back to back fending off the attacking Dai Li agents. 

Too bad the Dai Li were everywhere in Ba Sing Se.

Out of the darkness four more agents appeared. 

Things went downhill fast.

Jet was incarcerated first, his arms twisted behind his back as they were secured tightly. 

Lee was unable to fight off the rest of the agents. Now that he didn’t have Jet fighting by his side, he was alone against five skilled earth benders.

He went down within minutes. 

Both boys were restrained and Lee gave his uncle an ‘I’m sorry’ look before they hauled him away. 

Jet kept his head down before glancing over at the scarred boy.

“I’m sorry…”

He grunted, “yeah.”

They were hauled away. 

Two new additions to Lake Laogai. 

One of them would soon be discovered as the Prince of the Fire Nation. 

Long Feng would be pleased. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - 

The party was going great! 

Well, Aang was revealed as the Avatar, and he was doing some pretty spectacular tricks as he waited for the Earth King to join the festivities. 

The Dai Li would make sure he did not get to meet the Earth King.

Long Feng was able to restrain Katara, Sokka, Toph and even Momo! Aang was forced to follow him to where his friends were… ‘Waiting for him’.”

As Long Feng spoke to them in his office, they soon realized that the King was just a puppet and Long Feng was pulling all the strings. 

He spoke about the strict policy of not mentioning the war within the walls of Ba Sing Se. He spoke about their economy and traditions, and maintaining the last peaceful and orderly utopia. 

Aang stepped forward, “I will tell them about the war, I will make sure everyone knows!”

Long Feng smirked, “You have been treated, up until this point, as esteemed guests. If you go around talking about the war we will have no choice but to expel you from the city. I understand you have been looking for your bison? It would be a shame if you were unable to complete your quest.”

Aang clenched fists as he glared at Long Feng. 

Two Dai Li agents walked in, one of them handed Long Feng a piece of parchment. Long Feng looked it over, his eye brows raised and he looked over at them as one of the agents nodded. A wicked smile crossed over his lips and he looked back at the Avatar and his friends. 

“I have an urgent matter I need to attend to, Joo Dee will escort you back to your house.”

“Come with me please.”

The Gaang realized this women was completely different from the original Joo Dee that was their escort before. When questioned about what happened to their Joo Dee she just smiled. 

“I am Joo Dee and I will be your host as long as you are in our wonderful city.”

They followed her home in silence. Ba Sing Se was turning out to be a lot more complicated then they thought. 

Little did they know it was about to get so much more complicated. 

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Days passed and Sokka had worked all day on his Appa drawing for their ‘Lost Bison’ posters. Just to have Aang and Katara use some fancy printer place to make realistic Appa posters. 

_Pffffffffffff._

Aang spent the rest of the day passing out the realistic Appa posters all over town. There wasn’t any word about his missing bison, he waited all night and still no word.

Their original Joo Dee came back the house early the next day, scolding them on their lack of clearance for putting the Appa posters all over town.

Aang decided he had enough!

After a short out burst and Toph breaking down half their house, the Gaang stormed into the city, prepared to look for Appa on their own. 

Katara was putting up posters of Appa on a stone pillar when she heard a familiar voice approach her from behind.

“Katara, I think I can help you.”

Jet.

Her cheeks flushed a deep red and her anger boiled into her chest. With a swift motion of her arms she raised the water out of the canal she was standing in front of sent it hurdling towards Jet.

“Katara, I changed!!”

His words had no effect on her attack, the water pushed him down a nearby alley. She rushed towards him freezing a ball of ice. 

“Tell it to some other girl, Jet!”

She sent ice daggers hurdling towards him. He was able to block most of the attacks with his hooked blades. 

“I am not here to fight you! I am here to help!”

In a gesture of peace he threw down his blades. Katara wouldn’t attack an unarmed man, even if it was Jet.

That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t throw a few more ice blades at him, almost striking him. Just to prove her point, she pinned him to the wall.

Sokka, Toph and Aang came running around the corner. Sokka’s voice didn’t break Katara’s focus on her enemy.

“Katara! What is it?!”

Without even glancing over her eyes narrowed.

“Jets back. We can’t trust anything he says!”

“But we don’t even know why he’s here!”

“Whatever the reason it can’t be good.”

Jet reached into his pocked and pulled out the flyer of Appa.

“I’m here to help you find Appa.”

Aang’s eyes got wide and he looked at Katara.

“Katara, we have to give him a chance.”

“I swear, I’ve changed! I was a troubled person before and I let my anger get out of control, but I don’t even have the gang now! Ive put all that behind me!”

Katara frowned, “You’re lying!”

Toph approached Jet and put her hand against the wall he was pinned to.

“He’s not lying.”

Sokka cocked his head to the side, confused.

“How can you tell?”

“I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie, there’s a physical reaction. He’s telling the truth.”

Aang looked at Katara with a pleading look.

“Katara we don’t have any leads. If Jet says he can take us to Appa, we have to check it out.”

Katara let out a low exhale as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Alright, but we’re not letting you out of our sight!”

\- - - - - - - - - - 

The Gaang followed Jet to an old warehouse where they found what appeared to be a tuff of Appa’s fur. The old man in the warehouse spoke about seeing Appa! He said they shipped the bison off the Whale Tail island, which was almost to the South Pole.

Back where they started.

It would take months to get there. 

But Aang needed to get Appa back, and his friends agreed they had to get him back. So they were planning on going to Whale Tail island. 

Jet wanted to come! Katara was not happy.

As they left the warehouse and headed towards the train, when Smellerbee and Longshot ran out of an alley toward the group.

“Jet!!”

Katara reached for her water skin.

“I thought you said you didn’t have your gang anymore!”

“What? I don’t?” He looked over his shoulder confused.

Smellerbee ran up and hugged Jet. 

“Jet we were so worried about you! How did you get away from the Dai Li? Where is Lee?”

Katara’s face twisted into an angry/confused/disgusted look.

“THE DAI LI!?”

Jet looked very confused as he looked at Smellerbee and then Katara.

“I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

Smellerbee looked at Katara, “He got arrested by the Dai Li for fighting in the streets and yelling about…”

Her voice got quiet, “fire benders.. He and Lee fought in the street and the Dai Li came and dragged them both away a couple of weeks ago. How did you get away Jet? Where is Lee?”

“Why would I get arrested? Who is Lee? I have been living peacefully in the city.”

Toph touched the ground between Smellerbee and Jet. 

“This doesn’t make any sense, they’re both telling the truth.”

Katara shook her head.

“That’s impossible.”

Sokka chimed in, “No its not, Toph can’t tell whose lying because they both think their telling the truth. Jet’s been brainwashed!”

Jet started looking around frantically, “No its not! That’s…. crazy!! Stay away from me!”

The group huddled together and lead Jet to Smellerbee’s apartment where they could question him in private. 

\- - - - - - - - - 

Katara stood in front of Jet her arms crossed. He was sitting in a chair with everyone standing around him in front.

“The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us, the janitor was part of the plot too! I bet they have Appa here in the city. Remember what Long Feng said.”

Aang looked at Jet, “where did they take you when they captured you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“We need to help him get his memory back, maybe Katara can kiss him. That should bring something back!” Sokka laughed.

Aang and Katara did not.

Toph tried being realistic, “Try thinking of something from your past that triggers your emotions.” 

Smellerbee knelt down and looked at Jet.

“Think you what the Fire Nation did to your family.”

Jet closed his eyes, his face began to strain and he let his head drop. 

“No… I can’t… its too painful.”

Katara stepped forward and pulled water out of her water skin. “Here maybe I can help.”

She began to hold the water in both hands on the sides of his head as she stood behind him. To her surprise her mind was taken over with Jet’s memories. 

\- - - - - - - - -

She saw him running, he was only a small child. The village was on fire. He had dirt on his face and tears falling from his eyes. He fell to his knees as he saw his parent’s, bloody and burned laying on the ground in front of him. 

A tall fire bender with shaved sides and a long braid decorating with feathers glared at him. He sat on top of a Kimono Rhino, as Jet’s parents bodies lay in front of him. 

He pointed his hand at Jet and went to strike. Jet turned and ran as fast as he could into the woods. Crying and pushing his way through the brush. He stumbled when he got to a steep hill and tumbled all the way down. He landed face first in the first in the mud and everything went black.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Katara and Jet both gasped. Her arms shaking as she pulled them away from Jet’s head.

Aang looked concerned, “What happened!?”

Katara wasn’t sure, she just… saw Jet’s memory. She was inside his mind with him, re living his experience. 

Jet was gasping for air as his eyes stared at the floor. 

“I remember that…”

Katara looked at him and then back at the group. 

“I saw it too, I’m not sure how but I saw Jet in his memories. I re lived that moment with him, I’m not sure how... But I know I saw it.”

Sokka and Aang looked freaked out, Toph didn’t react at all. 

“That’s weird, but at least he remembered something! Try to help him remember more.”

Katara nodded and looked at Jet, “I’m going to try and help you remember… Think of the last thing you can remember before today. Ok?”

He nodded and closed his eyes. She set her bending hands back on his head and closed her eyes.

\- - - - - - -- - - 

“Please! Help me! Don’t let them take me! They will kill me! The Dai Li are ruthless!”

Zuko was there, he was holding swords, staring at Jet and then back at the Dai Li. She saw him look back at his uncle and then run forward. He went to help Jet, they fought, but not for long. 

Both of the boys were in handcuffs and thrown into a wooden box with bars on the windows. There was rattling and shaking as the box began to move.

“Idiot! Now we are both going to die! I am not a fire bender!”

“You might not be, but the old man is!! I saw him heat up his tea!!”

“You got us captured over tea!? Ughhhh, I should not have helped you. My uncle is going to kill me..”

They sat in silence for a long time. She saw Jet look over at Zuko a few times but Zuko didn’t look at Jet, not even one time. Both of their arms were in stone cuffs behind their back.

Once the box’s movement stopped, the door opened and Dai Li agents pulled them out of their enclosure. They were not gentle about it. Jet hit the ground, it was sandy and there was a large body of water close to his face.

Katara looked around and saw a tunnel sticking out of a large lake. The Dai Li used their earth bending to open the tunnel and shove both boys inside. 

Jet wouldn’t stop yelling about fire benders, and shouting threats.

Zuko stayed quiet.

They were lead through creepy tunnels and the entire underground prison had an eerie green glow from the crystals that were placed around. They boys stopped in front of two Dai Li agents and their knees were kicked from behind forcing them to kneel. 

“Take the taller one to the re-education room, I will take the other one with me.”

“Where are you taking me?!” Zuko hissed.

She saw Zuko glare at the Dai Li agents. One of the agents looked down and smiled sinisterly.

“Welcome to Lake Laogai, Prince Zuko. Long Feng will want to speak to you personally. Bring him.”

Jet glanced over his shoulder as the other boy was dragged the opposite direction into the darkness.

There was a spinning lamp, a deep voice, green light, and screaming.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Katara pulled away, her mind seemed to have troubling snapping out of Jet’s memory. Black spots danced in her vision and she felt herself slipping. 

Aang was there to catch her before she fell.

“Katara are you ok!?”

She looked at him and smiled, “yeah, it was just really intense. I saw everything… They were taken to a secret head quarters under a lake, Lake Laogai. You guys aren’t going to believe this but the Lee guy their talking about, is Prince Zuko!! They have him too, he was taken with Jet.”

Smellerbee frowned, “Wait… Pale, skinny guy, dark hair? Good with swords, huge scar on his face? He is a Prince?”

Sokka nodded, “Prince of the Fire Nation actually. He’s probably here chasing Aang. Jeez, the guys is relentless.”

Jet jumped up, “I knew it!! I knew he was a fire bender and no one believed me!!”

Smellerbee looked at Longshot as he rubbed his eyebrows. 

“Yeah you and me both buddy.” She said in response. 

Sokka looked at Katara, “did you see anything else? Anything that might help us find the lake? Or where they might be keeping Appa?” 

She shook her head no, “I can try helping him remember more. To see if there is anything else about his time there that can help us. Jet, can I try restoring your memories one more time?”

He shrugged. 

“Sure.”

Aang looked concerned. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? It seems to really drain your energy…”

“Ill be fine Aang. I know they are keeping Appa there, I am sure of it, we just need to know where.”

He understood that it was necessary if they were going to save Appa, so he agreed.

Jet leaned back in the chair again and Katara went to work.

\- - - - - - - - - -

She saw Jet laying in the floor of a cell, his tried to lift himself up. He was weak from lack of food, his arms were too weak to even sit up. His brain swam in confusion. He didn’t know where he was, what his name is, what was happening. 

He heard screaming, and an explosion from outside his door. Suddenly his stone door lifted and he saw the eerie green light flood into his room. It was brighter than he usually remembered it being.

Why did he remember a green light?

He saw fire burning just outside the door. 

He remembered things burning.

A boy ran in his room, with a scar, yelling at him. His ears wouldn’t work. The boys voice was muffled as he shot fire at people trying to get into the room.

Fire Bender. 

They were evil. 

He had to kill him.

“GET UP!!!”

Zuko was grabbing his arm trying to get him off the floor. 

Jet realized he didn’t have his weapons, he tired to punch the boy but his fist was caught in the boy’s free hand.

“Stop it you idiot! Hold onto me! We have to go!! The Avatar’s bison is here! We can use him to get out!”

He swung Jet over his shoulder so he rested against his back. He was running and dodging attacks. Jet knew he had to stop the fire bender. His head was pounding, his vision was fuzzy. He saw the scar, he knew it would be a weak point. 

He lifted his fist and slammed it into Zuko’s left eye. He gasped and dropped Jet, they both went falling to the floor. Stone encased Jet’s arms and legs as he laid there in a daze.

Zuko screamed as stone wrapped around his wrists, he tried blasting fire but it was no use. Jet watched the struggling fire bender and smirked.

“Fucking… fire bender…”

Zuko glared at him as a Dai Li agent came up to his side and kicked him in the ribs.

“We wont be falling for that again. Take him back to his cell. Long Feng will want to deal with him, personally.”

Two Dai Li agents came and grabbed Zuko by his hair and lifted him to his feet dragging him away incarcerated in stone. 

Jet’s vision went fuzzy and the memory went blank.

\- - - - - - - - - - 

Katara pulled away. Her head was starting to hurt, and her stomach twisted, it was uncomfortable watching someone else’s memories.

“What did you see?” Sokka asked. 

“I saw… I saw Zuko, he tried to save Jet. He said Appa was there! Appa is in Lake Laogai! I’m not sure what was going on exactly because Jet was pretty disoriented but Zuko tired to save him and Jet messed it up but punching Zuko, and they got caught.”

Sokka threw up his fist, “Wow go Jet! I might not totally hate you anymore!”

“No Sokka, he messed up their escape! So not good Jet. But thats in the past, so we just have to figure out what we are going to do now. I didn’t see anything that would help us know where they were being kept or how to find Appa. I think we might just have to find the lake and figure it out from there.”

Toph smirked, “Good thing you guys have the world’s greatest earth bender with you! Just find me the lake and I will get us in!”

\- - - - - - - - - - - 

It wasn’t hard to find the massive lake, the group made it to the water’s edge in a couple of hours. Toph found the tunnel almost imminently. 

Using her earth bending she raised the tunnel to the surface and they made their way down the ladder. The further down they went, the creepier it got. They walked in silence as they past a few rooms, a ground of ‘Joo Dees’ were being initiated. They’re pupils were blown and they stared straight ahead, repeating the words the Dai Li agent spoke. 

“I’m Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se…”

Jet shuddered as they crept past the cracked door. He was having trouble remembering still, but this felt familiar.

Aang waved his hand to gather everyone together, they slipped out of the large cavern and into a smaller hallway. They huddled together and waited for Aang to speak.

“We need to split up, half of us need to find Appa and the other half need to find Zuko.”

Sokka help up his hand, “You lost me at, Zuko.”

“Sokka we can’t leave him down here. This place is creepy.”

“He’s creepy!”

“We have to save him, I’m sorry Sokka but I have to do this. I owe him.”

“Well that’s confusing, we will talk about that later, but fine! We can save the angry jerk. How should we split up?”

Katara spoke this time, “Well Jet can’t go anywhere near Zuko because he is a fire bender and Jet freaks out. Aang you need to go get Appa. So I say Toph and myself and Smellerbee go find Zuko. Aang, you, Sokka, Jet and Longshot go find Appa.”

Aang nodded, “Toph can you feel where Appa might be?”

She shifted her stance, feeling the earth’s vibrations. 

“I feel something big on the lower level of the cavern, there is a ladder at the end of this hallway that leads down. The place I crawling with Dai Li agents so be careful.”

Katara put her hand on Toph’s shoulder, “Is it possible to find Zuko?”

She shifted again, “I don’t know anything about him so I don’t know what to look for. There are a lot of people down here with us. But I feel a pretty weak heartbeat in a room on this level at the end of the cavern. It might be him. We can try?”

Katara looked at Sokka and Aang, “meet you at the surface?”

“Sounds good sis.” 

Aang smiled at her and nodded, and they split up. 

\- - - - - - - - - 

On the way to finding Appa they ran into Long Feng, they put up a good fight against him and his Dai Li. Jet got hurt, but he wasn’t left behind. 

Sokka carried him on his back, confident Katara would be able to save him. 

They found Appa, Aang cried. 

Time to get the heck out of here!

\- - - - - - - - - - -

The other group moved through the cavern slowly, staying hidden in the shadows. They ducked into another small corridor, almost at the end of the tunnel. Smellerbee seemed nervous, Katara wasn’t sure if it was because of the Dai Li, or because they were rescuing the Fire Prince.

Toph peeked around the corner, the room was guarded by two Dai Li agents. They were talking to themselves, not paying attention to their surroundings. 

“I don’t know how they are going to get anything out of this kid.”

“He isn’t responding to the traditional methods.”

“Long Feng hasn’t been able to beat it out of him either, he is strong willed.”

“He is the son of the Fire Lord, of course he is strong willed.”

“Long Feng tried the new re education tactic yesterday, and this morning. Nothing.”

“Good thing they suppressed his bending, he burnt so many of our agents already.”

“Didn’t he almost escape?”

“He would have if he didn’t try to save the grunge kid he was brought in with. I hear the kid fucked up their escape. It was easy to re educate that one.”

“Yeah well if this doesn’t work I think Long Feng is going to give up.”

“Well he will have to, kids pretty much dead already.”

Before they could say anything else, the stone floor shot up and entrapped them up to their mouth. Leaving only their nose to breath and their arms incapable of earth bending.

Toph smirked and they walked out from where they were hiding. 

“Not so tough against the worlds greatest earth bender are you?”

She stomped the ground and the stone door slid open. Toph stepped to the side and Smellerbee walked over to her. 

“I’m not going in there, that’s all you Katara.” Smellerbee stayed close to Toph. Obviously feeling protected by the small earth bender.

Katara rolled her eyes and stepped in the cell, her stomach twisted into a huge knot and he heart started beating when she saw the condition Zuko was in. 

He was on his knees, his arms were above his head, shackled together with metal chains that were attached to the stone ceiling. He was covered in bruises, burns and cuts, she could count all of his ribs. He was coated in dried blood and there were pools of blood on the floor at his feet. He looked horrible. 

“Toph I need you!!!”

Katara walked over to Zuko and kneeled in front of him, she felt a shudder go down her spine when she tired to look him in the eyes. His eyes were cracked open, his pupils were so big you couldn’t tell his eyes were gold. He has dark circles under his good eye, and his face was beaten and bloody. He just stared into nothing, its as if he wasn’t even there.

Toph came in and stopped at the door, “Is he… alright? His heart rate is extremely slow.”

“I don’t think so, I need you to earth bend him out of these chains, they are connected on the ceiling and his legs are connected to the floor can you release the chains for me?”

She nodded and pressed her hand on the wall and imminently the chain dropped down from the ceiling and released from the floor. 

Zuko stumbled forward, Katara caught him and laid him down slowly. 

“Zuko, can you hear me?”

His eyes were not focused, she has never seen someone in such a bad condition. 

“Toph he isn’t responding, can you use your earth bending to find us a way out of here? We I need to heal him right away. I don’t know how much longer he has.”

Toph nodded, “No problem. What would you guys do without me? So we need to go down the corridor we were in last and there is a small hallway that will lead us to the entrance. I can make an platform that will carry Zuko to the ladder but we will have to carry him up that ourselves.”

“That’s fine, thanks Toph.”

They made their way out of the cell and Smellerbee looked sick when she saw Zuko.

“Oh fuck, Lee… He looks terrible. Why didn’t they do that to Jet?”

They were running towards the exit while they talked.

“I don’t know, Zuko is the Prince of the Fire Nation, they were probably trying to use him for something. No offense, but Jet is just a refugee so he wouldn’t be as important to them.”

Smellerbee grunted, “Hey, in this scenario I would rather be the refugee. Seems like they got the better deal.”

Katara couldn’t help but agree, she looked down at Zuko, his eyes were still half open but it was like there was no life in him. 

They made it to the ladder, Katara was the biggest of the three girls so she decided to carry him up. She pulled him onto her back and draped his arms over her shoulders. She felt something warm seeping through her tunic, her stomach turned.

It was his blood.

They made their way up the ladder as fast, but carefully, as they could. When they got to surface they saw Dai Li agents everywhere. Aang was fighting them with… Appa!! They got Appa back and he seemed to have a personal vendetta against the Dai Li agents.

Long Feng was there and he turned when Katara came to the surface, she saw his eyes get wide and he pointed to her. 

“Stop them!! Do not let them escape with the Fire Prince!!”

Dai Li agents came running at them and Toph sprang into action. Her foot hit the shoreline and threw up a stone wall, she began throwing rocks out of the wall at the incoming agents.

Katara used the water from the lake to throw ice darts at the agents, she was able to pin a few of them to Toph’s stone wall. She needed to get Zuko on Appa as soon as she could so she could properly fight. 

Aang seemed to noticed they were out numbered, he was back on Appa. Sokka and the rest of the Gaang were climbing onto Appa, without a saddle. Aang was blocking incoming hits but most of the Dai Li were headed for Katara and Toph. They wanted Zuko.

_Shit, if there is not saddle and Zuko is unconscious I will have to hold onto him while we fly._

“Don’t let them get away with the Fire Prince!! Stop the girl in blue!! Do anything it takes!” 

Long Feng seemed to be growing irritated, his brow was furrowed and he had his hands in fists at his side. Usually he kept himself calm, with a stoic look to him. 

He was unraveling. 

Katara set Zuko down on the floor and used her now free range of motion to hurdle a massive wave at the incoming agents. Toph and her worked as an impenetrable team, taking out any agent that threatened to come close. But there were too many, they needed to flee, they wouldn’t be able to win this fight.

Appa flew up to them and Sokka slid off his back, he saw Zuko and covered his mouth.

“This… Is this Zuko!?”

Katara glanced at him before returning to fighting off the agents, “Yes Sokka! Get him on Appa now!! There are too many of them!! We wont be able to hold them off for long!!” 

Sokka hesitated but he lifted the fire bender and carried him onto the flying bison. Jet was unconscious as well, Longshot was holding onto him so he didn’t slide off Appa while they flew. 

Once Katara saw an opening her and Toph jumped onto Appa’s back. 

“Yip yip buddy!!”

The bison took off into the air, leaving Long Feng and his Dai Li agents on the ground. 

\- - - - - - - - - - -

They flew for some time, knowing they couldn’t go back to their house in the city they needed to find a place to set up camp and Katara needed to heal Jet and Zuko. 

Both boys were unconscious the entire ride. Sokka seemed annoyed he was in charge of making sure Zuko didn’t fly off the bison, but he didn’t say anything. It was obvious the fire bender was hurt, and he could deal with it for now. 

Finally they found a small field surrounded by forest and Aang deemed it a safe enough place to land and make camp. It was a days trip on foot from Ba Sing Se’s outer wall, so without a flying bison it would be far enough away for no one to follow them.

Appa landed and Aang snuggled into his best friend for a few minutes while everyone else slid off. Everyone was happy to be back on solid earth, flying on Appa without a saddle was intense.

Sokka slid Zuko down to Katara who laid him on the grass and brought water out of her canteen. She started healing his wounds, his bruises began to fade and his open wounds were closing. 

She didn’t want to touch his mind until he woke up and she had an idea of what they were dealing with. His eyes were finally closed which was refreshing, the half open thing he was doing earlier was exceptionally creepy. 

“Do we have any extra clothing? He needs a tunic or something.”

Katara was right, Zuko had no shirt on and his pants were old and tattered, he had no shoes on either. Giving him a tunic would be a good start.

“Sorry Katara we don’t have anything… We weren’t really expecting to camp tonight. All of our stuff is back at the house.”

Sokka was right, they were very under prepared for this. Of course they expected to have resistance but no one was expecting rescuing Appa and Zuko to be this… Dramatic. 

After Katara felt like Zuko’s body was at a point where he wasn’t going to die any minute, she went over to Jet and began healing him. His wound was internal, he was bleeding on the inside so Katara had to bend the blood inside his body, it was extremely difficult. Working on Jet was exhausting, it took a lot of energy and Katara wasn’t sure what she was doing exactly. But she needed to do anything she could to save Jet and Zuko. 

She never bent blood before but it was easy to find the free flowing liquid as it spread through his body. She was able to slide it back into place and patch the internal wound to keep it from spreading back out.

Sokka was working on a fire when Katara was finally done healing. She laid back in the grass and instantly fell asleep. Healing took more energy then using her bending to fight and she did both in the span of a couple hours, she needed her rest.

Aang was finally done snuggling Appa and walked over to Zuko, he looked down at the unconscious fire bender and frowned. 

“What did they do to him?”

Sokka shrugged as he poked the fire, night was approaching quickly and if they wanted to eat he needed to go and try to find food.

“Who knows, Long Feng seemed really pissed we were taking him. This whole brain washing, kidnapping, conspiracy stuff is confusing. I am going to see if I can find food, I will be back.”

Aang sat next to Zuko, watching the soft rise and fall of his chest. Aang remembered when they were in the forest together after Zuko rescued him from Zhao. Aang waited in the forest for Zuko to wake up after he took the hit from an arrow. This situation felt similar, but also so different. 

“Don’t worry Twinkle Toes I am keeping an eye on him. He is doing better now that Katara healed him, I honestly don’t think he would be alive right now if we wouldn’t have recused him.”

Aang pulled his knees up to his chest watching the fire bender, “Yeah, I’m just worried about what they did to him. I mean they really messed up Jet, when we were down there Long Feng said something to Jet and he completely lost control. It was like he was under a spell, he started attacking us and he was barely able to gain control again. I just hope they didn’t do too much damage to Zuko…”

“It’ll be ok Twinkle Toes, the good news is we got him out of there and whatever happened we can help him heal. Look how much good Katara did for Jet already, she can help Zuko.”

Aang sighed and looked back at the fire. The sun was almost completely set. Jet was laying on the other side of the fire, Smellerbee and Longshot sat by his side, their faces riddled with worry. 

Sokka came back with some nuts and berries, enough to keep the hunger at bay, but not enough to completely satisfy anyone. 

Katara woke up just after dark and Sokka gave her the small portion of food. She ate and went to check on Zuko first. She wanted to help heal him more but she was too weak to heal anymore tonight. He still was not awake but his breathing seemed deeper and more evened out, like he was resting instead of trying to sty alive. She was happy about that.

She went over to Jet and touched his chest with her hand, using her bending to check on his internal bleeding. It was healed for the most part, but he needed rest for a couple of days or he could open it back up and risk bleeding to death. 

The darkness of the night moved in quickly, the wind began to pick up and Katara could feel the rain in the air. The clouds blocked the moon light and the wind brought a strong chill to the earth. Katara knew it wouldn’t rain tonight but the moisture brought the temperature down significantly.

Sokka tried to build up the fire and everyone huddled around the warmth of the fire. 

“It’d be nice to have a fire bender right about now…”

Sokka glared over at Zuko who was not responsive still. 

“Stop it Sokka, its not his fault he isn’t conscious. I’m sure once he is awake he will help you with the fire.”

“Yeah I’m sure once he wakes up he will try to capture Aang, not help us with the fire.”

Katara glared at her brother, “what did you want us to do? Leave him there? Let Long Feng kill him? Look at him Sokka, he isn’t really in capturing Aang condition. Now shut up and go to sleep.”

Sokka grumbled and laid down to go to sleep. Everyone slept close by the fire trying to stay warm, Katara felt bad as she saw Smellerbee and Longshot keeping Jet warm. Zuko laid off to the side with no shirt or shoes, probably freezing. Katara lifted him slightly and pulled him close to the fire, she leaned her back next to him. Trying to keep him warm without too much physical contact. 

It felt weird to feel him breathing. 

She ignored it and went to sleep.

\- - - - - - - - - - -

“Katara wake up.”

She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the person shaking her. Sokka stared down at her, he looked frustrated.

“Your ex boyfriend is freaking out.”

She sat up slowly to see Smellerbee and Longshot trying to hold Jet back. She looked over and saw Zuko… Sitting up. 

He was awake! 

He was staring at Jet, who was screaming at him across the fire.

“FIRE BENDER!! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!!”

Zuko cocked his head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, are you sick?”

“Don’t patronize me!!!”

“I’m not!”

“You’re the Fire Prince!”

“What?”

“STOP LYING!”

Katara rolled her eyes and stood up. 

“Stop it Jet! He probably doesn’t even know what’s going on!”

She knelt next to Zuko and looked at him, his eyes were still really dilated, she could barely see any gold. He was sitting up but most of his body weight was resting on his elbows that were propped up behind him.

“Do you know who you are?”

He nodded, “Yes, I am Lee.”

“Ok… Lee… where are you from?”

“Ba Sing Se.”

“How long have your lived there?”

“My whole life.”

“Do you know who Long Feng is? And the Dai Li?”

“The Dai Li are the keepers if the cultural customs of Ba Sing Se, they are here to create order and make sure everyone is comfortable and happy in the city.”

“Yeah guys, he is totally brain washed!” Katara yelled over her shoulder before looking back at Zuko.

“What do you think of the Avatar?”

“The what?”

“Ok… What about the Fire Nation?”

“Umm, I don’t really have an opinion. Their fine I guess.”

“Do you know Prince Zuko?”

“No.”

“Can you fire bend?”

“No.”

“What about the war?”

“What war?”

“Alright, why don’t you rest and I will find you something to eat.”

“That’s alright I am not hungry.”

“You need to eat Zu-Lee, you look starved.”

“Oh… I do? That’s odd, I remember eating yesterday.”

“I’m sure you do, well you just rest and ill find you food.”

“Thank you.” 

“Ummm.. Of course.”

She stood up and walked over to Sokka and Aang, they sat together and Aang looked really concerned. 

“What did they do to him?” Aang asked looking past Katara at Zuko. 

“Well, he was definitely brain washed, he thinks he is Lee from Ba Sing Se. He doesn’t seem to have any memory of Long Feng or being captured by the Dai Li. I say we take it slow and just try to figure out what we are going to do next before we try to decide what we are going to do about Zuko. Right now he is calm and that’s whats important.”

She turned her attention over to Jet, he was standing with Longshot and Smellerbee. They each had one of his arms in their hands, holding him tight. He was glaring at Zuko from across the fire. 

“Jet, you need to calm down, please.” Katara was trying to use her soothing voice.

“NO! HE IS A FIRE BENDER!!”

Katara looked over at Zuko who sat lotus style just watching Jet, not saying a word. It was pretty creepy considering any time she ever met the Fire Prince he was yelling.

Always yelling.

Now Jet was yelling.

And Zuko was just… Sitting there.

Aang walked up to Jet, trying to calm him down. 

“Jet its alright, you just need to settle down and rest. You’re injured, Zuko.. I mean Lee is injured. You guys can’t fight right now.”

Jet perked up, “Can we fight once we are healed?”

Aang rubbed his chin and smiled, “Sure! Once you are both healed you can fight. Until then, you need to stay clam and not yell at Lee ok?”

Jet sat down and nodded. His arms crossed glaring at Zuko, but he wasn’t yelling anymore.

So that was a start.

“Good job Aang.” Katara whispered at Aang as he walked up to where Zuko was.

“No problem, its what I do, being the Avatar and all. Keeping the peace.”

Aang kneeled down next to Zuko and the fire bender gave him a weird look.

“Hello… Little bald guy… Thanks for getting that guy to stop yelling at me.”

Aang grinned, “Hello, Lee. Of course, we all need to stay calm. How are you feeling?”

“I am fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

Zuko looked down at himself and saw the faint bruises and burns that covered his body. He had dried blood all over his arms and midsection, most of the open cuts were healed from last night. Katara still had a lot of healing to do. Some of the wounds were already healed from the time he spent underground and have turned into scars.

He was littered with scars. Some were not from the time spent with the Dai Li, Katara was sure about that.

“Oh. I see.”

“So can you tell me about yourself?”

Aang sat down in front of him, smiling.

Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath, like he was struggling to remember about himself. 

“I am Lee, I am from Ba Sing Se, I work at a tea shop.”

“Ok, what else can you tell me?”

“I am Lee, I am from Ba Sing Se, I work at a tea shop.”

Aang looked concerned, “Ok, maybe if I ask you questions maybe you can answer them?”

“Sure.”

“How old are you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Red.”

Aang perked up, “Ok! See there is something about yourself, you like red! Do you know why you like the color red?”

Zuko looked confused, and tapped his chin as he fumbled through his thoughts.

“No, I just know I like it.”

“Alright! So do you know the name of the Fire Nation capital?”

“Caldera City.”

“Ok good! Who lives there?”

“The royal family?”

“Yeah! Who is in the royal family?”

“I… I am not sure.”

“Ok that’s alright, it seems like you know a lot more then you think you know! That’s good Lee! I’m sure once Katara starts healing your mind it will be as good as new!”

Lee smiled, “ok!”

It was weird to see Zuko smile, he seemed excited about what Aang said. He looked at Katara, “When do you start healing my mind?”

“I have to wait until your body is healed, you’re in pretty bad shape…”

Zuko looked down at himself again, “It doesn’t hurt. Weird. I feel fine.”

“That is weird, but I still need to repair the damage before I can touch your mind. Do you mind laying back for me so I can work on you?”

He nodded and laid back in the grass while Katara bent her water over his body. Aang stood up and walked over to Toph and Sokka and they began discussing something quietly. 

“Can you feel my water on your skin?”

“No.”

“Hmmm… That’s not good.”

“I guess not.”

She worked on him in silence, she was concerned about him. His body was in terrible shape and his mind seemed completely broken. The more she healed, the more she found. Some of his scars were years old, and couldn’t possibly have come from the Dai Li. 

But yet… He had a surprisingly positive attitude and didn’t seem angry or upset at all. 

Once she was done she went over to Aang, Sokka and Toph who were sitting close to Appa. Aang was snuggled up to the big bison. 

“How’s Sparky?” Toph seemed genuinely concerned. 

“He seems… Ok, which is whats concerning me the most. He should be in pain, and he isn’t. He is definitely brain washed, I plan on working on his mind once I finish with his body. Both boys need a serious bath though, Zuko is covered in blood.”

“I see, his heartbeat has evened out which is good, he seems very unfazed by anything. Even when Jet was yelling at him and calling him a fire bender he didn’t react at all.”

“Yeah its so weird, if you knew Zuko before this, he was very emotional. Always screaming, picking fights, he was full of anger. But this guy… Lee… He is not Zuko.”

Aang shrugged, “Maybe he is Zuko?”

Sokka grunted, “Yeah, he might look like the angry jerk, Aang. But that is not Zuko, we know Zuko.”

“I know he seems different but I have always known there is a good person inside of Zuko, maybe this is it. Maybe the Dai Li broke him down so much this is his true self?”

Everyone laughed. 

Aang didn’t, he was serious.

Sokka wiped the hysterical tears from his eyes, “He’s brainwashed Aang! He is Lee! Stop thinking too much into it. He thinks he is from Ba Sing Se, but he is actually the spawn of the devil. So lets not give the guy more credit then he deserves. What we need to worry about right now is how we are going to get to the Earth King and tell him about the eclipse.”

Katara nodded, “We have to figure that out and right now we have two brainwashed guys with us. One of them is the son of the Fire Lord and Long Feng was very upset we took him out of the dungeon. We need to be careful, if we go back to the city we have to keep Zuko and Jet away from the Dai Li.”

Toph sighed.

“That’s impossible Sweetness, the Dai Li are the city. They are everywhere, there is no way we will be able to keep those two away from the Dai Li. Especially captain yelly pants, screaming about fire benders. If we bring Zuko and Jet back in the city we might as well drop them off at Long Feng’s doorstep, make it easier for everyone.”

“So what do you think we should do?” Aang asked.

Sokka tapped his chin, “Oh! Why don’t we go to the house, get our supplies, drop it back here and we can split up. Half of us can go to the Earth King and other half stay here with the crazy people.”

Katara glanced over at Zuko who was just sitting there with his knees pressed up to his chest staring into the fire. He looked so weak compared to the Zuko they saw in the North Pole, Katara almost felt bad for him. 

Almost.

“I think that Smellerbee and Longshot should stay here and help control Jet. Katara you should stay here so you can do the mind healing stuff on those two and possibly get them back to normal. Aang, Toph and I will confront the Earth King. First we will go to the house and get our stuff, come back here and drop it off to you. How does that sound Katara?”

Sokka nudged his sister and she broke her gaze away from the fire bender, “Oh yes, that sounds fine. Ill just stay here with the brainwashed guys and the freedom fighters.” She had a hint of attitude when she spoke.

“Oh come on sis, Zuko couldn’t fight you right now even if he was back to his old self. And Jet doesn’t want to fight you, he just wants to fight Zuko. I’m pretty sure you could freeze his ass to the ground in 30 seconds. So I am not worried about you at all. Plus Smellerbee and Longshot are here to help control Jet. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m more worried about you guys and the Dai Li…”

Aang perked up, “We have Appa now! We will just fly to the castle and barge right in! No Joo Dee, no forms, just good old Team Avatar busting in and getting stuff done!”

Sokka and Aang high fived.

Toph smirked, “Oh yeah, its butt kicking time!! This how we should have handled Ba Sing Se in the first place! Let’s do this!!”

Katara rolled her eyes, “Just go get the supplies so I can make you guys something to eat before you go all ‘Team Avatar’ on them ok?”

The three hopped on Appa and waved goodbye as the sky bison took off into the air. Katara felt a prick of sadness in her chest as she watched her friends fly off without her. 

“Where are they going?”

She turned to see Zuko was staring at her.

“They went to go get us supplies so we can make something to eat and get you some new clothing. You must be cold.”

“No, I’m not cold. I’m ok, thanks though.”

He turned back to the fire. 

Katara looked at Jet who seemed to be sleeping on his back while Longshot and Smellerbee played cards next to him. Smellerbee saw Katara staring so she stood up and walked over to the water bender.

“I overheard you guys talking, they left to go get supplies? Then something about the Earth King?”

Katara filled in the young girl on their plan.

“Sounds like a good idea. Jet isn’t well, and Lee… Well Lee is definitely not well. I wanted to thank you Katara… for everything. I know Jet is not your favorite person but you are still helping him and I am very thankful to you for doing that for us. If you and your friends didn’t give him a chance back in Ba Sing Se... I think that he would have continued working for the Dai Li and we would never have known what happened to him. So thanks.”

Katara smiled, “Of course, I would never not help someone in need, even if they are my enemy.”

She looked over at Zuko.

“I take it he is your enemy?”

“Yeah, he is…”

“You’re a better person than me that’s for sure. I would have taken this opportunity to eliminate my enemy, not nurse them back to health.”

“Most people would, I am just not that type of person. I can’t watch anyone suffer and right now Zuko is suffering. So is Jet, so I will help them until they are better.”

Smellerbee nodded, “Well let me know if you need any help. I am going to stick close to Jet just incase he wakes up and decides he a different person. I’m looking forward to you completely healing his mind.”

“Its going to take time, I don’t exactly know how it works. All I know is I can see the memories as I retrieve them. I don’t know if it will all come flooding back or if I will see it piece by piece. Only time will tell.”

Smellerbee grunted, “Good luck with that. I don’t wish to be in your shoes right now. Especially with that guy…” She pointed at Zuko, “I don’t want to be in his head.”

Smellerbee walked away and Katara looked over at the fire bender.

_I wonder what I will find in his mind… Something tells me its not going to be good._


	2. Healing

# Healing

Katara waited anxiously for Appa to come back to camp. She was doing her best at trying to keep herself busy. She realized that without any supplies or food it was difficult to find things to do. They had a fire, her water skin and the clothes on their backs. Other than that they had the grass under their feet and anything they could find in the woods.

Katara thought about going out into the forest to forge some food for them to eat but she couldn’t bring herself to leave everyone in camp alone. 

_What is Zuko suddenly remembers everything and attacks the Freedom Fighters?_

_What if Jet wakes up and attacks and kills Zuko?_

_What is Longshot says something?!_

She figured it was better to stay in camp.

Just in case.

Katara paced around for a while before finally sitting down besides Zuko, not too close.

He looked at her briefly and then back at the fire. Katara fidgeted with the end of her braid before deciding what to say, why was this so awkward?

“So, Lee… How long have you worked in the tea shop?”

“Ummm, for as long as I can remember, I guess.”

“You don’t remember not working in the tea shop?”

“No, as far back as I can remember, I worked at the tea shop.”

“Do you remember your childhood?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes trying to concentrate. He let out a loud frustrated breath of air.

“No, I can’t. Just the tea shop.”

“Oh, well… Is it a nice tea shop?”

“It’s small, but cozy. When I think about it, I feel happy. So I must like it.”

“Its good to have things in your life that make you happy. Is there anything else in your life besides the tea shop that makes you happy?”

Zuko looked at her, his eyes were still almost solid black. They looked dead, it made the hair on Katara’s neck stand up. 

_What did they do to him?_

“I don’t think I have anything else in my life besides the tea shop. I am Lee, I’m from Ba Sing Se, and I work at a tea shop.”

He said it as if it was his mantra, there was hardly any emotion in his voice. He took his eyes off Katara and looked back into the fire. 

“Don’t worry Lee… We will help you.”

He didn’t say anything. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - 

Appa landed next to their house in the city. Aang hopped off and hugged the fuzzy beast. 

“Stay here boy! Yell for us if anyone tries to take you! We will be quick!”

The three ran into the house, only to find it completely empty. 

“They took all our stuff!” Toph screamed. “I hate Ban Sing Se!!”

“Everything is gone! HE TOOK THE MEAT!!” 

Sokka searched under pillows, in cupboards and ran in and out of each room.

Aang groaned, “Long Feng must have known we would flee the city and took the opportunity to take everything. What should we do Sokka?”

Sokka tapped his chin and foot at the same time, his signature thinking pose. 

“We have to get some camping supplies we don’t have a choice. So I think it’s time for the good old… ‘I’m the Avatar give us free stuff’. I say we take Appa into the middle ring. We go to the market, you do some fun air tricks, draw a crowd, make people laugh. The BOOM – We get free camping supplies and food and then we fly outta there before the Dai Li can do anything creepy! What do you think?”

Toph shrugged, “I mean, the Dai Li are so focused on keeping the war a secret, I doubt they would do anything crazy creepy in front of a large crowd. I also doubt they would attack the Avatar in front of the cities citizens. We can get some supplies and then get out of there. I can keep my feet on high alert to make sure no one pulls any funny business. With Appa, I think we have a chance.”

Aang jumped up in excitement, floating slowly back to the ground. 

“Alright! Let’s go get some free stuff and head back to camp! I don’t want to leave Katara too long without any supplies!”

Sokka laughed, “I wonder what she is doing right now with those two angry brainwashed guys?”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - 

“JET! Calm down!”

Jet was fuming, he woke up disoriented and started pacing. He shouted at Zuko a bunch before taking out his hooked blades and slashing at the grass around him. Katara was on her feet trying to get him to relax. 

Zuko was just staring at them.

“Jet, please! You need to take it easy or you could open up your wound and cause more damage. I might not be able to heal you again if you do that! If you want, I can work on your memories and see if I can pull more out? Would you like me to do that?”

Jet glanced up at Katara and his eyes softened, he then looked over at Zuko and started glaring again.

“I have to kill the fire bender! He killed my parents!”

This time Smellerbee interjected, grabbing Jet’s arm, “No, Lee did not kill your parents, Jet! He is your age! He couldn’t have killed them! Please, Jet, just sit down and Katara will help you.

Jet’s dark eyes were fixed on Zuko, he finally sat down, never taking his eyes off the other boy.

“Fine Katara, help me.”

Katara let out a breath of relief and walked over to Jet, standing behind him she put her hands on his temples and closed her eyes.

“Think of something happy, try to search for a memory that brings you joy.”

Jet closed his eyes and concentrated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara saw a small Jet running through a village, it was a bright and beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a soft breeze rustling the trees. Jet was laughing and he kept looking behind him, like he was running from something. 

“Gotcha!”

A women popped out from behind a building and Jet ran right into her arms. 

She had tan skin, and long sandy colored hair that flowed down her back stopping just before her hips. Her eyes were dark like Jet’s but they had a softness to them that was absent in Jet’s present day eyes. 

Jet screamed and giggled as the women lifted his small body into the air, she was much taller then most women and she was slender. She giggled with Jet, she lowed him to her face and pretended to eat his belly. He screamed for help in between his laughter.

“If you want to get away from me you’ll have to be more aware of your surroundings, baby. You were looking back when you should be looking forward. You can’t focus on what was, you have to focus on what can be. I wasn’t behind you anymore, I took a short cut and you ran right into my arms! What if I was a fire bender? You could have gotten hurt.”

Jet snuggled into his mother’s chest, as she held him tight against her body.

“I will do better next time!”

The woman kissed his forehead and smiled, “You are so amazing, my wonderful Jet, I just want to keep you safe, always. Do you want to play some more before we go back home and get dinner ready for daddy?”

She set Jet back on the ground, he was probably around 5 years old, smiling wide at his mom.

“Ok! Try to catch me again! Give me a 10 second head start!”

She smiled and ruffled his hair, “Ok! 1….2….3….”

Jet took off running, looking behind him at his mom with a genuinely happy smile. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara brought her hands down slowly, it was a brief memory but a powerful one. 

That must have been Jet’s mom. She was beautiful, she loved her son so much…

She looked down at Jet and saw the tears streaming down his face. Before she could say anything he lunged for Zuko. Jumping right through the fire.

“YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!!!”

Zuko jumped up in the blink of an eye. Jet swung his blade at the fire bender and on instinct, Zuko dropped the the floor and kicked his leg out taking Jet off his feet. Jet hit the ground and went to jump up again but he felt himself stuck in the dirt. He was frozen to the ground with ice. 

He glared over at Katara as she had more water in the air ready to throw at him. 

“Jet you can not attack Zuko!! I mean Lee - whatever! He did not kill your parents!! Leave him alone!!”

Zuko looked over at her confused and then down the angry boy on the ground. He walked away and sat down a few feet away from the angry boy frozen to the ground. He had no reaction to what was happening.  
It was almost as if he was looking but not seeing. 

Jet was furious, trying to break out of the ice and get to Zuko. 

“Jet, please… I know you are angry at the Fire Nation but if you let me continue to heal your mind maybe you can find some comfort. You can’t keep attacking Lee, if you try to hurt him one more time I will be forced to keep your frozen to the ground. I don’t want to do that… Please don’t make me do that.”

Jet took a few more breaths and seemed calmer, “I’m sorry Katara, I know Lee didn’t kill my parents… I just feel so crazy… Every time I close my eyes all I can see are my parents dead bodies in front of me. I keep thinking of being in that awful dungeon, and then I have small clips of this scarred bastard popping up in my head and its just so confusing!”

Jet slumped onto the floor as Katara walked over to him, Smellerbee was already at Jet’s side. She had her hands on his back, rubbing little circles. She seemed to really care for him.

Longshot sat back, his bow and arrow in his lap, he was ready to defend his friend if Zuko was to attack.

Katara melted the ice that held Jet to the ground, he sat up and looked at her. Finally taking his eyes off of Zuko.

“Why don’t you try remembering Lee, I will heal your mind and you try to remember everything you can about him. If you remember how you know him it might help your mind not blame him for the death of your parents?”

Jet shrugged and sat down on the floor cross legged, “Alright Katara I will try.”

She smiled and brought the water up to his head and closed her eyes, “Try to remember…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara saw a wooden boat sailing through the water, the boat looks familiar for some reason to her. 

She saw the back of Zuko’s body, he was leaning over the side of the boat and his uncle was next to him, they were talking. She couldn’t hear what they were saying until Zuko threw down a bowl and groaned.

“I’m tired of living like this!”

Jet walked up to Zuko slowly, “Aren’t we all? My name’s Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters; Smellerbee and Longshot.”

Zuko glanced behind at them for a moment before turning back around to face the water.

“Hello.”

Jet had his famous smirk on his face as his piece of straw dangled in his mouth. 

“Here’s the deal. I hear the captain’s eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?” 

Zuko’s uncle chimed in, “what kind of king is he eating like?”

Jet glanced at him, smirking fondly. 

“The fat, happy kind. You want to help us ‘liberate’ some food?”

Zuko tossed the bowl he had into the water, and turned to them.

“I’m in.”

“Alright meet me here at nightfall.”

Zuko nodded. 

Nightfall came and Jet and Zuko along with the freedom fighter’s broke into the kitchen with almost no effort and stole food. They were gone as quickly as they came. Both boys were exceptionally skilled with their swords. Katara was impressed. 

After the food was liberated, they all sat together in a circle eating.

Jet spoke to Iroh about going to Ba Sing Se for a second chance, he spoke about his mistakes and Iroh seemed to understand. Zuko stayed quiet, sipping his tea. 

Zuko didn’t say anything all night while the other the other three laughed and talked together. They went their separate ways after they were done eating. 

Katara saw Jet laying in his bedroll looking up at the night sky. He turned onto his side and saw Zuko laying next to his uncle across the deck. He smirked and closed his eyes going to sleep.

The next morning was foggy and cold, Jet woke up and looked over to where Zuko had been sleeping and saw both Zuko and his bedroll were gone. Jet sat up and looked around, jumping to his feet he began to search the deck, carefully stepping over other sleeping passengers. 

He saw Zuko at the boat’s edge looking out into the water. 

Jet went up to him and leaned against the railing.

“You know, as soon as I saw your scar I knew exactly who you were…”

Zuko’s eyes narrowed as he turned to see Jet beside him. Katara saw the fire bender’s shoulders tense slightly. 

“You’re and outcast, like me. And us outcasts have to stick together. We have to watch each other’s backs. Because no one else will.”

Zuko’s shoulders loosened up, but he didn’t say anything. He looked back over the railing at the water.

“Ive realized lately that being on your own isn’t always the best path.” He spoke without looking at Jet.

Jet went to say something else but she saw him stop, it was better to leave the moment as it was and not over do anything by talking too much. 

He nodded at the boy and walked away. 

Katara saw him go back to sit with his Freedom Fighters, talking about their new life in Ba Sing Se, he kept a close eye on Zuko. Zuko didn’t interact with anyone except his uncle, he was staying quiet and keeping to himself. 

Once the boat docked everyone was headed towards the train. It was the only way into the city. 

Jet looked at Smellerbee and Longshot. 

“I think Lee would make a good Freedom Fighter. He’s just trying to find his way in the world, like us.”

Smellerbee scrunched her face.

“You don’t know anything about him, Jet.”

“I know he didn’t get that scar from a water bender.”

“Besides, I thought we were going straight now.”

“We are, and the new freedom fighters could use a guy like Lee. What do you think Longshot?”

Longshot looked at Jet with a stoic expression and Jet shrugged.

“I can respect that.”

Jet looked back at Zuko who was sitting next to his uncle waiting on the train. 

After some time passed Jet went up to Zuko again. Katara could see the annoyance in the fire bender’s eyes. 

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?”

Zuko sighed and very reluctantly followed him. Katara cant help but smile as she saw how unamused Zuko was with Jet and his antics. He just wanted to be left alone, and Jet was terrible at leaving anything alone.

“You have a much better chance of making it in the city if we stick together. You want to join the Freedom Fighters?”

Zuko looked away, “Thanks, but I don’t think you want me in your gang.”

“Come on, we made a great team looting the captain’s food. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees.”

Zuko started to walk away, “I said no.”

Jet frowned, “Have it your way!”

Just as Jet was going to walk away he looked at Zuko’s uncle and saw a cup of tea in his hands, slowly steam started to rise out of the cup until it was pipping hot. Jet’s eyes got wide as he came to the conclusion…

They were fire benders. 

After they got into the city, Katara watched as Jet followed Lee around Ba Sing Se and stalked him outside of his house. Stealing their spark rocks and trying to force them to fire bend. Even with all his efforts he was never successful in baiting them to use their fire bending. After weeks of trying, he finally confronted them in the tea shop.

Zuko did not engage with Jet much until he tried to attack his uncle. She watched the fire bender pull the soldier’s swords and fight Jet up until the Dai Li carried them away. 

Katara had no idea that Zuko was such a skilled swordsman. She was learning so much, and found herself impressed with his fighting skills.

After everything she saw from Jet she was surprised that Zuko tried to help him. It would have been easy for him to just let Jet get dragged away and all his problems would have been solved. He didn’t though, he stepped in and tried to help the guy who was making it his life’s mission to destroy Zuko’s life. 

_Maybe… Zuko is a good guy?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara felt light headed, that was the longest she was ever in someone’s mind before. 

She stumbled back and sat on the ground, Jet was breathing heavily, staring at the ground for a while. He was not saying anything – which was very different for Jet.

“How do you feel, Jet?” Smellerbee asked. She put her hands on his shoulders, trying to look the boy in his eyes.

Jet looked up slowly past her and at Zuko, who was sitting a few yards away. 

“I… I um… He didn’t do anything to me… He tried to help me. Even when we were captured, he tried to help me and I fucked it up…. I saw every interaction between him and I, he just wanted me to leave him alone and I couldn’t let it go…”

Zuko didn’t look at Jet while he spoke about him, he sat on the ground and ran his hands through the grass. 

Katara looked at Zuko for a moment and then back at Jet.

“So do you feel better about being in camp with Lee? He obviously didn’t want to fight you, and he did try to save you, twice. I hope now you will stop trying to kill him.” Katara said in a sincere tone.

Jet nodded, “Yeah I will leave him alone. He seems way more fucked up then me anyway. What did they do to him?”

He looked back at Katara who was sitting behind him a few feet away. She shrugged and looked at Zuko.

“I have no idea… But hopefully I can try to help him soon.”

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Aang balanced on his famous air scooter and floated through the courtyard. He was laughing and smiling as he swept passed people in the market. Everyone was stopping to see the air bender in action. He popped off the ball and floated into the air landing on Appa’s head.

“Check it out everyone! Prepared to be… AMAZED!” 

He opened his hands, keeping them relatively close together as three stone balls spun in a circle. His favorite air bending trick, besides his air scooter. 

People cheered.

Sokka rolled his eyes.

Toph stood on guard, her feet planted on the ground, feeling for anything unusual. 

Sokka went around to the different vendors in town talking about his travels with the Avatar and how they are working with refugees and needed supplies to bring to the lower ring. 

“-Anything you have would help.”

“The Avatar appreciates your kindness.”

“-Oh this meat looks nice!”

“-Do you have anything in…red?”

“Well don’t expect any Avatar assistance! Jerk!”

It took a few hours but Sokka was able to load everything onto Appa’s new saddle. It wasn’t a perfect fit as it was no designed for a sky bison, but it was way better than bare back. At least he wouldn’t have to hold Zuko while they flew. He was hoping that was only a one time thing. 

Toph signaled to Aang as he was bending water out of the well and making some of it into snow for the children as they danced around giggling. They never saw snow in Ba Sing Se, it was too warm, so they were entranced with the bending magic. 

“Twinkle Toes we gotta go!”

Aang looked over at Toph, they had come up with a signal if the Dai Li was moving in and Toph had just given the signal. Sokka looked over and saw Toph signaling Aang.

“Thank you again kind sir, but we have gots to go! The Avatar thanks you!!”

He gathered the rest of the supplies in his arms and hustled himself over to Appa. Throwing the supplies in the saddle he jumped in. 

“AANG COME ON!!”

Toph broke through two stone cuffs that were sliding on the ground towards her legs, they were trying to be sneaky. She was prepared as Sokka grabbed her arm and hoisted her into the saddle. 

Aand waved one more time at the people, “Thank you everyone! Yip yip!”

Appa took off into the air leaving the Dai Li on the ground. 

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Katara was finished with her third healing session on Zuko. Most of the immediate damage was repaired. His skin was almost the same consistent color, except for the dried blood smeared all over his body.

“As soon as they get back with fresh clothing for you, we need to find you somewhere to wash up. This dried blood must be uncomfortable, is it itchy? It looks itchy.”

“It doesn’t itch.”

“Oh, well are you feeling better now that your wounds are healed for the most part?”

“I felt fine before, but sure. Thanks.”

Katara didn’t know what to do. Talking to Zuko was like talking to a wall, nothing she said got through to him. Everything he said to her was generic and very unlike the Zuko she knew. 

“Do you want to me to try to heal your mind? I think your body can handle it now.”

He looked at her, his eyes still the same. She was worried about the fact his eyes were still so unfocused and lacking any kind of life.

“Sure.”

She nodded and stayed on her knees scooting over to where he was sitting. She went behind him and pulled fresh water out of her canteen and took a deep breath. 

Ok… Let’s do this.

“Lee, I need you to think of the last thing you remember. Can you do that? Anything before you woke up here with us.”

He nodded and closed his eyes.

Her hands began to glow as she touched the sides of his head, closing her own eyes she felt the twisted energy in his mind. Everything was closed off, it was like standing in an a empty building with just a few pieces of furniture. He had no access to any part of himself, he could only see what the Dai Li placed in his mind for him to see. 

She has never felt anything like this before. Jet was blocked off but his was very surface, and not everything about himself was closed. His was easy to break down the barriers and let the memories come back to him. 

Zuko’s was not, his was so messed up that she wasn’t even sure if she could heal him. She felt his mind starting to shift as he tried to remember. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She saw him standing in the dark looking around, he looked exactly as he did now. Medium length black hair, pale skin, bright red scar, he only wore the brown pants he had on currently. This was different then Jet, who the memories just appeared, this seemed to be Zuko trying to find a memory.

He was lost in his own mind.

Zuko sat down and put his hands on his head and didn’t move. Suddenly there were green flames all around him, they were hot and sinister. The flames started small until they burned tall and bright. 

She heard Long Feng’s voice.

“Lee, from Ba Sing Se.”

“Lee, from Ba Sing Se.”

“Who are you?”

She heard Zuko’s voice.

“I am Prince Zuko from the Fire Nation, and as soon as I break out of here I am going to burn this place to the ground.”

She heard Long Feng chuckle.

“Oh Prince Zuko, you will either submit to me, or you will die here.”

“Lee, from Ba Sing Se.”

She heard him screaming and the flames took over everything before she let go of Zuko’s head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara screamed and fell back. Zuko opened his eyes and looked at her.

“Are you ok?”

Her hand’s were shaking, the fire felt so real, like it would melt the skin right off her hands. 

She looked at Zuko, who still seemed completely unfazed.

“Are you alright Katara!?”

Jet and Smellerbee were on their feet while Longshot had his bow and arrow pointed at Zuko’s chest.

Katara put her hands up in a surrender fashion, “Please guys, I am alright I was just startled. Its fine, go back to playing cards.”

Jet glared at Zuko, “But you screamed and fell back. Are you sure you are ok?”

She nodded, “Yes I am fine. Thank you. Please go back to playing your game.”

The Freedom Fighters settled down and went back to sitting in a circle playing cards. Jet would look up every few minutes to check on Katara and Zuko.

Katara turned to Zuko, “Did you see what I saw?”

He cocked his head, “The green fire?”

“Yeah… Did you hear yourself speaking?”

“That wasn’t me.”

“If that wasn’t you, then who was it?”

“I’m not sure, he said he was Prince Zuko from the Fire Nation. I am Lee from Ba Sing Se, I work at a tea shop.”

“Lee… You are Zuko. You are the Prince of the Fire Nation. You are not Lee.”

Her big blue eyes pleaded with the fire bender, she searched his empty black eyes for any sign of his old self. The only gold in his eyes was a thin line circling around his dilated pupils. 

“No. I am Lee from Ba Sing Se, I work at a tea shop.”

Katara rubbed her hands over her face and laid back on the grass.

“Ok, Lee… After my friends get back we will get you fed and washed up and then maybe we can try again. Sound good?”

Zuko shrugged.

“Whatever you want to do.”

Katara rolled her eyes as she stared into the sky on her back.

“Yeah I figured you’d say something like that.”

\- - - - - - - - - - -

After a while Appa came into Katara’s sight and she jumped off the ground, her heart pounding in her chest. It felt like her friends were gone for an eternity, even if it was only early afternoon. She missed her friends, and was starving to death.

Appa landed and Aang, Sokka and Toph slid off the bison. Katara looked confused.

“Wow where’d you get the new saddle? Why do you have so much supplies? Where is our stuff?”

Sokka held up a hand, “Woah sister, so many questions. Saddle came from a merchant in the middle ring and so did the rest of this stuff. Long Feng took all our belongings out of our house, so we had to get some free stuff by making Aang perform his Avatar tricks. It worked like a charm.”

Her eyes narrowed, “What about the Dai Li? I am sure they weren’t happy about you showing up in the city and putting on a performance.”

Toph crossed her arms and smirked. 

“That’s why you guys have me! I was the lookout and as soon as the ‘wanna be sneaky’ Dai Li showed up we skedaddled out of there. They tried to stop us but we were too good for them. Now we have enough supplies to feed all our new friends and camp for a couple of days, just in case we can’t get to the Earth King.”

Katara smiled, “As long as you guys aren’t hurt or you weren’t followed I am happy. Let’s get some of that food out, so I can start preparing it! Also, Sokka, I need you to help me with Zuko he needs to get cleaned up. You got him clothing right?”

Sokka frowned, “I am not bathing the fire bender, Katara.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I am not asking you to bathe him I am asking you to escort him to a body of water so he can get cleaned up and that way I can try to heal him again after we eat. He is covered in blood he can’t just sit there like that! I am not sending Toph or the Freedom Fighters, and I don’t want Aang alone with him so that leaves you, oh wise leader. Or you can cook us all lunch!”

Sokka groaned and reached into Appa’s saddle and pulled out some clothing and a bar of soap. He stomped over to where Zuko was sitting. 

“Come on, Lee…”

Zuko stood up and smiled.

“Where are we going?”

“To clean you up.”

“Oh fun!”

“Yep… So fun. Yippie. Come on.”

They boys left camp, Sokka leading the way.

Katara smiled and began preparing the food. She was beyond starving, and needed her strength if she was going to try and heal Zuko’s mind again.

\- - - - - - - - - -

“So… Lee… You like… Tea?” Sokka knew he sounded as awkward as he felt.

Zuko nodded.

“Yeah its alright.”

“Well, if its just alright, then why do you work in a tea shop? You should work some place with things you like, not just that you think are alright.”

Zuko seemed puzzled.

“I am Lee, and I am from Ba Sing Se and I work in a tea shop.”

Sokka waved his hand around, “Yeah, yeah, Lee we have all heard it before.”

They boys finally found a river, it wasn’t very big but the water was steady flowing which meant it was safe to bathe and drink. Sokka scooped some water into his hands and splashed his face. 

“Alright I am going to give you some privacy and you just go ahead and get cleaned up and then yell for me whenever you are done alright?”

Zuko nodded.

“Ok!”

Sokka grumbled as he walked back into the woods, “ - chipper, brainwashed, weirdo. Why couldn’t you be this happy whenever you were trying to capture Aang? Woulda been nice- “

He disappeared into the forest and Zuko was alone.

He felt a panic in his chest, he wasn’t sure why but his chest became tight and his breathing became more difficult.

Was he nervous?

_What would Lee from Ba Sing Se have to be nervous about?_

His head started to ache, he shook it back and forth before he stripped out of his pants and got into the river. 

The faster her got cleaned up, the faster he could go back to the camp and be with the pretty girl who wanted to help him. 

Using the soap that was given to him, he started with his hair and worked his way down. He looked down at the water and saw a hint of red, it slowly turned into a darker red as it flowed down the water away from him. 

_That’s a lot of blood. Is it normal to bleed that much? Would bleeding that much hurt? Why doesn’t it hurt?_

His head started pounding even more as the thought’s danced across his mind. Squeezing his eyes shut he shook his head again to clear his mind. Once the thoughts were gone his headache disappeared. 

He was finally done washing and saw the red and black tunic and pants that were laying by the river. 

He changed quickly and looked around, the boy was gone. He said to yell for him.

What was his name?

“Guy who was here with me a moment ago! I’m done!”

Sokka came out of the woods, “Do you not know my name!?”

Zuko shrugged, “No.”

“I am going to blame that on the brainwashing and not assume you haven’t ever known my name. I am Sokka, so next time you need me, use my name.”

Zuko smiled, “ok!”

Sokka could not get used to the smile. He looked Zuko over and was pleased with how much better how looked now that his hair was clean and he was wearing clothing. Sokka brought him a red and black tunic that tucked into a red waist belt and black pants.

He looked very Fire Nation.

_Good._

Walking back into camp together Katara crossed her arms and glared at Sokka.

_Wait… Not good?_

“Sokka what the heck!? You dressed him like he is from the Fire Nation!?”

Sokka looked at Zuko, he did look very Fire Nation. 

But that’s because he was Fire Nation. 

What did he do wrong?

“What Katara!? He likes red! I brought him red! He is Fire Nation, isn’t that what we are trying to do? Remind him who he is?!”

Katara rubbed her face, “Sokka, we are at war with the Fire Nation! When he was picked up in Ba Sing Se he wasn’t wearing Fire Nation clothing because he was trying to blend in! He already looks Fire Nation without trying and now you are parading him around in red! You have to find him something else. What else do you have?” 

Sokka looked so heart broken, “But this is what I picked out for him…”

Zuko looked at Sokka, “I’m sorry, if it makes you feel better, I like it.”

Sokka pointed at Zuko, “See he likes it!”

Katara pointed at Appa.

“Sokka, new clothes. NOW. Find him something I don’t know… GREEN!?”

Sokka mumbled his way to Appa with Zuko following behind him. 

Rummaging through a bag, Sokka pulled out a green and gold tunic, it was a soft material and he was looking forward to wearing it himself. 

“Fine… I will wear the red and you can have my super soft, super amazing green tunic I picked out for myself…”

Zuko smiled, “ok.”

He took off the shirt he was wearing and handed it to Sokka.

Sokka looked down at the boy and his eyes got wide.

“Zuko… I mean Lee… What the hell did they do to you…”

Everyone was looking at Zuko, he shifted uncomfortably. 

He looked down at himself to see what they were talking about and he saw the assortment of scars all over his body. Most of them were burns but there were large scars that must have come from being cut, the most disturbing ones were the ones shaped like hands.

“I can’t see what you guys are talking about someone describe it to me! What are we looking at?” Toph yelled from across the camp.

Sokka finally took his eyes off of Zuko and looked over at Toph. 

“Its like someone used him as a human punching bag for years… There’s no way this all came from the Dai Li.”

“Oh.. Well that’s sad.” Toph’s voice lost its enthusiasm.

Katara could see Zuko was getting uncomfortable and she glared at Sokka. Before she could say anything Aang stepped in.

“Give him his clothes Sokka. I’m sorry Lee, we didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Aang took the green tunic from Sokka and handed it to Zuko. He smiled at Aang.

“It’s no problem. Thank you.”

He slid the tunic back on and tightened it at his waist. He walked away and sat by the fire again, not saying another word.

Aang frowned and looked at Sokka, “That wasn’t very nice Sokka.”

“I’m sorry! I just wasn’t expecting that! I didn’t think his body would be in such bad shape, he is a Prince after all. I thought he would be all shiny and perfect.”

Aang looked over at Zuko and then back at Sokka.

“Maybe we should admit that we don’t know enough about Zuko to make any hard judgments yet. Katara did you help him with his memories at all while we were gone?”

Katara shuddered at the thought, “Yeah, briefly, his mind is in worse shape then Jet’s. Whatever they did to him they wanted to completely block out everything that made him Zuko. All his memories are blocked, and his mind is twisted up, its going to take me time to get everything untwisted. Long Feng really hurt him Aang… I am worried he wont ever recover…”

She glanced over at Zuko who just stared into the fire. 

Aang put his hand on her shoulder.

“If anyone can help him, it will be you Katara. I know you can do this.”

She smiled at Aang, “You’re right. I am going to finish lunch and after we eat I am going to try and work on his mind again.”

\- - - - - - - - - -

Lunch was ready and everyone took a bowl or meat and potato stew. Aang had a bowl of potato and veggie, Katara would always take some out for him before she put the meat in. 

The Freedom Fighters were doing better now that Jet wasn’t freaking out about Zuko anymore. Katara decided she would try to help Zuko first and then work on Jet a little later. Jet seemed to be doing much better even if he didn’t totally remember everything about who he was. He had the support of Smellerbee and Longshot, which helped him a lot.

Zuko didn’t have anyone.

Katara saw that Zuko didn’t really eat, he pushed his food around the bowl and watched the different chunks float around the liquid, but he only took a few, actual bites. He nibbled on the bread a bit but he ended up putting it off to the side after a while. 

Sokka looked over at Zuko and his eyes went to the bread, “Uhhhh are you not going to eat that?”

Zuko glanced at the bread, “No, do you want it?”

“Umm. Yes. I do.”

Sokka grabbed it and took a big bite smiling, “Let me know if you don’t want your meat stew. Ill eat that too.”

Zuko smiled, “Here.” He handed Sokka his bowl. 

Sokka’s eyes lit up, “This is the best day ever.”

“Sokka, Lee needs to eat stop taking his food!”

Katara was getting annoyed with how relaxed her brother was being about Zuko’s condition. He was already too thin, he needed to eat.

Zuko looked at her still smiling, “Its ok Katara. I don’t mind, I’m not hungry and he is. He should eat it.”

Katara rolled her eyes and shook her head, “I think I liked you better when you were an asshole.”

She saw Zuko’s brow furrow and he looked back into the fire. 

His smile was gone.

Katara felt like a crap.

She should take her own advice.

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Aang sat lotus style in front of Zuko while Katara sat behind him, pulling out her water she took a couple of deep breaths preparing to try and heal his mind. 

“Ok Zuko, I want you to do what we did last time, think about the last thing you can remember before you woke up with us. Ok?”

Zuko nodded, “I am Lee.”

“Ok… Lee, can you think about the last thing you remember before you woke up here with us?”

“Ok.”

Aang looked concerned but he didn’t say anything, he was only here to watch.

Katara’s hand rested on his temples again as she pushed into his mind with her healing water. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark again, and very quiet. This time she didn’t see Zuko, it was just emptiness. 

She saw a door open in the darkness and two Dai Li agents walked through the door, the room filled with a soft green light. Katara looked around and the darkness morphed into stone walls, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. 

Looking past the Dai Li agents she saw Zuko tied to a chair, stone cuffs holding his wrists behind his back hooking him to the chair. His head hung down, his usually spiky hair was stuck to his forehead with a mixture of sweat and blood.

One of the Dai Li spoke.

“Who are you?”

“…..”

“Who are you?”

“…..”

A stone hand grabbed Zuko around the neck and pulled his head up. She saw his eyes were still gold, which she assumed meant he wasn’t completely under their control yet.

Another stone hand came flying at his face, knocking into his scarred side, his head twisted to the side but the grip on his neck held him in place.

“Who are you?”

He glared at them and still said nothing. 

Katara winced as they hit him in the face, each time a different side over and over until blood was pouring from his mouth and nose. He didn’t say a word. 

The agents looked at each other and one of them left the room. 

“You are making this more painful for yourself. You just need to let go and do what we ask and things will stop hurting.”

Zuko smirked, “Fuck you.”

The Dai Li agent send a blow to his stomach and the grip on his neck didn’t allow him to double over, he hissed from the pain but didn’t scream. 

“Who are you?”

“I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, son of Ursa and Ozai, and I am going to burn this fucking place to the ground.”

“Wrong answer.”

Another blow came to his side and Katara heard a terrible crack, which explains his cracked rib she had to heal earlier. She was surprised he still didn’t scream.

The other agent came back in the room, with a tray and a needle with black fluid in it.

“Long Feng wants us to give the first dose.”

She saw Zuko’s eyes get wide as they lifted the needle and approached him. He struggled but the grip on his neck and the restraints on his wrist didn’t give him any mobility. He watched, with a terror filled gaze, as they stuck the needle into his neck and injected the fluid. 

She watched in horror as his pupils dilated and his body slumped. 

“Did he pass out?”

The Dai Li agent sent another stone hand into Zuko’s stomach and the boy didn’t move.

“Seems so.”

“Alright, leave him here until Long Feng sees him. He wants to handle this specific situation delicately. He has a plan for him.”

The memory began to get fuzzy and fade into black. She was standing in darkness again, he must have passed out and that’s where his awareness ended. She pushed her the water in her hands a little deeper trying to recover anything else that will help Zuko remember. 

There was another memories that faded in slowly, she was standing in a cell while Zuko was pacing back and forth. He wasn’t injured yet, he must have just arrived. 

He was feeling around trying to find a way to escape. The door opened and Long Feng walked in. 

“Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, I must know… What are you doing in Ba Sing Se?”

Zuko crossed his arms and stood tall. 

“Making tea, isn’t is obvious? Your Dai Li picked me up at a tea shop.”

“I see you have a smart mouth on you, I am sure you wont feel so inclined to speak once we knock all your teeth out.”

Zuko flinched slightly, “I’d like to see you try.”

Long Feng nodded and the two Dai Li agents moved forward. Zuko dropped to the floor and spun kicking out a wall of flames. The Dai Li shot up a wall of stone but Zuko was faster then them. He stood on the top of the wall using the rising stone to push himself up and jump over the agents. He landed in front of Long Feng and lit his fist with fire.

“MOVE.”

Long Feng took a step to the side and Zuko took off out the door. Long Feng smirked and nodded at the agents who took off after him. 

The memory went black. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara opened her eyes.

She removed her hands as her arms shook, she took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself. 

“Was that me?”

She opened her eyes to see Zuko looked back at her. He didn’t look any different. 

“Yeah, so do you believe us now? You aren’t Lee.”

Zuko shook his head, “No, I am Lee, I am from Ba Sing Se and I work at a tea shop. I don’t know who that person is.”

Katara glanced at Aang for help, he shrugged. 

“What did you guys see?”

Zuko shrugged, “I’m not sure. So kind of torture? Some fire. A man with a braid. Just random things.”

Katara groaned, “We saw the Dai Li torturing Zuko, they injected him with some liquid in his neck and he passed out so the memory ended. Then we saw when he first arrived and Long Feng with the Dai Li approached him. He escaped, but I didn’t see anything past that. He must have gone to get Jet and then that’s where he was caught again. I am only assuming, but I think whatever they injected him with is whats causing the root of the problem.”

Aang looked at Zuko, “How do you feel about what you saw?”

“I don’t feel anything about it.”

“Did you recognize yourself?”

“That wasn’t me, he said he was Prince Zuko. I am Lee, I don’t know who that was.”

“Ok, I understand that. Maybe in a little bit we can try to recover some other memories for you?”

Zuko shrugged, “sure.”

Katara and Aang exchanged worried glances. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - 

The day got away from them as everyone set up a proper camp, it had been a long time since they had to prepare camp. They were spoiled in Ba Sing Se with their big fancy house and all the restaurants they were able to eat at. Everyone wants to spoil the Avatar so they were treated like royalty. 

While actual royalty was being tortured under a lake outside of the city.

Toph was right, Ba Sing Se was awful. 

Sokka still missed it’s meat though.

Katara was so tired from healing Jet and Zuko today, she just heated up the left over meat stew from lunch and served it for dinner. No one complained, especially not the Freedom Fighters. 

They were all being exceptionally quiet. Now that Jet was starting to feel better they seemed to be trying to stay on their best behavior so they didn’t have to leave the group. They quietly played cards and Smellerbee even offered to help pass out the bowls of food!

Katara was happy to have the extra help. She still wanted to work on Jet’s memory before she gave them the all clear that they were good to return to Ba Sing Se, or wherever they were planning on going

Zuko on the other hand… Was going to be a long process. 

She watched Zuko while they ate and saw that once again he didn’t really eat anything. He just looked down at his bowl and pushed the chunks around. He would push one of them down into the stew’s base and watch it pop back up to the surface. 

Sokka didn’t say anything to him, but he watched the fire bender’s food closely. He couldn’t take his eyes off the un eaten piece of bread.

Zuko looked at the Water Tribe boy and then looked back down at his bread.

“Here.” He handed Sokka the bread. 

“No Lee. You need to eat, you haven’t eaten hardly anything since you’ve been here. You have to eat.”

Katara cut in, she glared at Zuko and then at Sokka.

“Sokka has his own food, he does not need your food.”

“It’s ok, he can have it. I’m not hungry.”

“Zuko if you don’t eat your going to die, do you understand that?”

He looked down at the ground and his eyebrow turned into a frown. He almost looked like Zuko again.

“I’m not Zuko, I am Lee from Ba- “

“Yes, yes Lee from Ba Sing Se, you work at a tea shop we all know. Now eat your food.”

He nodded and took a couple slow bites. Katara was satisfied.

Everyone was done eating and to Katara’s surprise, Zuko ended up eating half his bowl of stew and almost his entire piece of bread. She felt a strong sense of pride in the boy for giving effort, maybe he wasn’t just ready to roll over and die.

Katara cleaned up from dinner while Sokka went to get more fire wood, Jet offered to help him and Sokka politely refused.

Maybe Jet didn’t remember that he and Sokka did NOT like each other. 

Katara smiled to herself, maybe she would skip the whole her kissing Jet from his memory, if he didn’t remember it already. She would like to pretend that didn’t happen. 

Toph was relaxing by the fire while Aang was learning how to play cards with the Freedom Fighters. 

Katara looked at Zuko who sat by himself and decided she would try to heal him again.

“Lee, do you mind if I work on your memories again?”

He looked at her and flashed a smile, she couldn’t help but think he had a handsome smile…

Too bad his eyes were completely freaking her out.

“Sure Katara.”

She got in position and put her glowing hands on his head once more.

“This time, I want you to try to think of the earliest memory you can. Before the tea shop. Can you do that for me?”

“Ok.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was darkness.

Nothing happened.

Finally… A red room appeared. It was beautifully furnished, the dark wood furniture had gold etching on the sides and beautifully crafted gold handles. There was a dresser, a vanity, and a desk all with the same details. There was a large window that was open, a gentle breeze flowed into the room. Thick curtains were pulled apart and the white sheers fluttered every time a breeze would wisp into the room. 

There was a large bed in the center of the room against the wall. Candles were lit and there were tall Fire Nation banners on both sides of the bed that extended from the ceiling to the floor.

A young girl with honey brown eyes was sitting at the vanity messing with her hair, and a young boy with a phoenix tail laid across the bed reading a scroll. 

The girl let out a frustrated growl as she pulled on her hair. She must be around 5 or 6.

“I don’t understand why this is so difficult!”

She pulled and wiggled her hand as it was caught in the ribbon she was trying to tie into her long chocolate hair. 

“Why don’t you ask one of your servants to help you.”

The boy looked up at the girl and Katara instantly saw Zuko’s familiar eyes, but he didn’t have his scar. She was taken back, he looked so different without the huge red blemish that went across half his face. His eyes were big and bright gold, he was a very cute kid. He must only be 6 or 7 in this memory.

“Shut up Zuzu, I can do this myself. One day I will not have servants to do my hair when I am out leading our Nation’s armies in the war. Unlike you, I am a talented fire bender so father will want me to lead multiple armies. You can come with me and wash my socks or something. I’m sure with practice you’ll be good at that.”

She saw Zuko frown, “shut up Zula. I will be a good fire bender one day, you just wait and see.”

Oh, this small child was Azula. That makes sense. I forget they are siblings sometimes, the girl is terrifying, even as a child.

“Yeah, if father doesn’t kill you first. You really have to stop getting on his bad side.”

She saw sadness flash into Zuko’s eyes. 

“Yeah, well, I breathe and he is mad at me, I can’t do anything right.”

“Well stop breathing around him.”

“Oh yeah, that’ll work…”

The girl threw the ribbon on the floor frustrated. Just to pick it up again and light it on fire.

“Stupid ribbon, now who wont work?! You’re gone, nothing but ash! I will replace you with a new better ribbon.”

“Zula, you cant burn everything that upsets you. Do you want me to help you with your hair?”

Azula sneered at her brother through the mirror, “If you think you can actually do something useful then fine.”

Zuko jumped off of the bed and walked over to his sister. 

“Do you have another ribbon?”

“Oh course dum-dum, I wouldn’t burn that one without a replacement. You are so dense sometimes.”

“I’m not going to help you if you keep insulting me! Ill just go back to my room!!”

She saw the little fire bender getting upset and Azula smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Fine, I am sorry. Fix my hair please.”

Katara watched as Zuko brushed his sister’s hair and gently wrapped the ribbing through her top knot and tied it off. It wasn’t perfect but it was much better then Azula was doing by herself earlier. 

“How did you learn to do this?”

“I used to brush mom’s hair.”

“Ugh, of course you did, you were such a momma’s boy.”

She saw tears well up in Zuko’s eyes he blinked quickly trying to chase them away. Azula saw the weak attempt to hide his sadness and sighed. 

“I’m sure she is fine. She probably just left.”

“I bet you he killed her.”

Azula turned around so fast and grabbed her brother by the collar of his tunic and she watched Zuko flinch. 

“DON’T SAY THAT! Zuzu even if its true if you EVER say that father will KILL YOU. Shut up for once! Think before you speak!! He is Fire Lord now! No one will stop him!”

She smacked him across the back of the head before letting him go and sitting back at her vanity. Katara saw her watching her brother in the mirror’s reflection as he stared at the ground. He didn’t say anything.

“Listen Zuzu, I know she left you, but she also left me… You know, she was the one who did my hair at night before bed… The servants don’t know how to do it the way mom did, so I was trying it myself….”

Zuko looked up at her and then walked over and wrapped his arms around his little sister and set his head on top of hers. 

“Don’t worry Zula, i’ll do your hair every night and I won’t ever leave you. I promise.”

Katara watched Azula close her eyes as a small tear fell down her face. 

“I hope you’re right…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara pulled away from Zuko, he didn’t move, she placed her hand on his shoulder and he flinched.

“Are you ok Zuko?”

“Who were those kids?”

Katara’s heart sank, he was so lost.. There were probably millions of memories like that, it would take the rest of his life to uncover all of them. He would die as Lee and Zuko would be lost to the world forever. 

“That was you, and your little sister, Azula. I think you guys were in the palace… Did it feel familiar?”

He shrugged, “Maybe.”

Katara moved to in front of him and sat down, he looked up at her slowly and to her disappointment his eyes were still dilated beyond recognition. 

“It’s a start, just keep trying to remember. We can work on it more tomorrow. But I think rest will do you some good. Sokka got you a bedroll so you don’t have to sleep on the ground tonight.”

He smiled softly and nodded, “Thank you Katara.”

Her heart fluttered.

Weird.

“Of course.. Lee.. I will see you in the morning ok?”

He nodded and got up and walked over to the bedroll and laid down. His scar side was down and for a moment she could see what was left of the little boy from his memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love to hear from you guys! Feel free to comment and I will try to answer each of you :) 
> 
> I hope you are enjoying the story so far! <3


	3. Tracking

# Tracking

The next morning Katara began cooking breakfast for the group, she realized how much she missed camping with everyone. There was something about being outside under the stars with your friends around a fire that brought a warm feeling of joy to her heart. She looked around her group, her eyes landing on their newest additions. 

Jet and the Freedom Fighter’s slept soundly, with all their bedroll’s pushed up together. Jet was in the middle with Smellerbee and Longshot on both sides of him. Katara had a sneaking suspicion that Smellerbee might have a small crush on Jet, based on how attentive she was to him. 

It was sweet. 

Toph was sleeping in the earth tent she would always make, she didn’t use a bedroll either. She claimed she liked sleeping in the dirt, so Katara didn’t question her. Sometimes it was better to let Toph do what Toph wanted to do. Katara wasted enough of her time trying to control and mother the small girl, who had enough control and overly motherly affection already to last a lifetime. 

Aang always slept with Appa, especially now that he was back from the Dai Li. Aang was cuddled up in Appa’s tail with Momo snuggled up to his side.

Sokka usually slept with his bedroll a few feet away from her own. He promised their dad that he would keep her safe, and he was doing everything he could do to keep that promise.

She didn’t make it easy for him.

Katara loved getting in the middle of dangerous situations. 

She had a hard time not standing up for someone, especially if they couldn’t stand up for themselves.

Which brought her to Zuko. He was sleeping in his bedroll off to the side, close to the fire and away from everyone else. 

He was their enemy, or is their enemy, its all too confusing at this point. He needed help though, and Katara couldn’t turn her back on someone that was hurting. She knew she had to be careful and not allow herself to get too comfortable with him. If he did get his memories back and decided to attack Aang, she needed to be able to fight him. 

Katara signed as she cut vegetables. 

_I really hope it doesn’t come down to that…_

Aang was the next of the group to wake up, he stretched and snuggled with Appa before turning his attention to Katara. 

“Good morning! Is it just you that’s awake?”

She nodded, glancing over at Zuko in his bedroll.

Aang followed her gaze.

“How is he?”

“I’m not sure, he is still sleeping but… Aang… What if we can’t fix him? What do we do with him? What if we do fix him? Then what do we do?”

She started cutting the vegetables faster, her mind was whirling with questions. She felt Aang’s hand touch her shoulder. 

“I need to tell you something.”

Katara frowned, stopping what she was doing, she turned and looked at Aang.

“What is it Aang?”

“Remember when you and Sokka got sick, and I had to get you the frozen frogs to suck on-“

“Oh yes, how could I forget? Disgusting.”

“Yeah… Well, I was captured by Zhao…”

“What!?”

“Yeah, he locked me in this crazy secure prison and there was no way for me to get out. He was going to ship me to the Fire Lord and you guys would have been too sick to come save me… Well… Ummm… Zuko, came and broke me out… He single handed, broke me out of prison and we escaped together… He saved my life.”

Katara couldn’t help but gasp and turn to look at the weak and sleeping fire bender snuggled in his bedroll. 

“Why did he do that?”

“I’m not sure… But when I asked him if we could be friends he attacked me and I guess that was my answer. I don’t think he is a bad guy Katara, I just think he has been hurt.. A lot, and he is angry and confused. Now that the Dai Li did this to him, maybe it’s too much and he wont be able to come back. But either way, I wont stop until I know we did everything we could to try and save him. He doesn’t deserve to die like this. Even if we have to bring him with us everywhere we go while we try to heal his mind. I can’t just abandon him.”

She smiled at Aang, he was the most caring and compassionate person she has ever met. She loved him for that, even if at times it was too much. In this moment though, she knew he was right. Zuko was hurting, and he needed someone to be there for him. 

Suddenly she remembered. 

“Wait Aang, what about his uncle? He must be so worried about him! We need to try and find him.”

Aang looked surprised, “Oh, I forgot about him. The old guy that travels with Zuko? Did you see him in any of the memories?”

Katara nodded, “Yes he was at the tea shop when Zuko and Jet were taken by the Dai Li. I am not sure where the tea shop is located but based on the condition of the street, it has to be in the lower ring. Maybe after you guys confront the Earth Kind we can try to find him?”

Aang smiled, “Of course!”

“Thanks for telling me that Aang, in some weird way it helped put my mind at ease.”

“Anytime, Katara.”

Katara smiling, went back to making breakfast. Toph woke up next and decided to take Aang to do some morning earth bending practice. Sokka woke up last like always, complaining about all the noise. 

Katara wasn’t sure when Zuko woke up but he rolled up his bedroll and made his way over to Katara.

“Hi… Do you need help?”

She was extremely surprised to see him standing there, his arms behind his back as he watched her move the chopped vegetables into a pot over the fire. 

“Sure, I need someone to cut the tofu. Can you do that?”

He smiled, nodded and stood next to her. Picking up the knife, his eye’s lingered on it for a moment, before chopping the brick of tofu. They worked in silence for a while, Katara had to admit, it was nice having the help. 

“Thanks for the help… Lee.”

He looked at her, his scarred side facing her this time. 

In all the time they were fighting she was only this close to him one time. When he tied her to a tree, but she never got a good look at his scar. It was a extremely powerful burn, she could see the outline of his bone and muscle under the damaged skin. 

If he ever got burned on his face in that spot again, he wouldn’t have any skin left to heal. She was surprised his face held up the way it did. She was even more surprised that he was still able to use his eye. 

The burn looked old, faded and leathery, but Zuko was so young. He was Sokka’s age, which meant the burn must have happened when he was possibly… Aang’s age? The thought of Aang going through something as painful as half his face been burned off, made her shudder. 

Zuko noticed her shaking and stopped cutting the tofu. 

“Are you ok?”

“Oh yes, sorry, I am alright.”

“Ok.”

Finally breakfast was almost prepared and Zuko helped her gather the bowls and dish out the tofu and vegetable stew. She found herself making a lot of stews, it was easy and filling and with a piece of bread it hit the spot. If they didn’t have bread, rice was always a good alternative. 

Aang and Toph came back from practice and they were both covered in dirt. 

“Hey Sokka, you’ll have to show me where that river is! I need a bath.”

Aang laughed and took the bowl Katara handed him.

“Mmmmm smells amazing! Thanks Katara!”

She smiled, “Zuko, I mean Lee helped. Thank him too!”

Zuko smiled and took his bowl without a word. Everyone sat by the fire and Zuko sat a little closer to the group this time, but still far enough away. Jet smiled at Katara and when he took his bowl.

“Thanks Katara, do you mind helping me with my memories today? I’d like to get back everything the Dai Li took, so I can start planning how to get my revenge.”

Katara frowned, “Don’t you think that’s a bad idea? If I were you, I would stay away from the Dai Li.”

Jet frowned, “I’m not going to let them get away with brainwashing me and trying to use me like a pawn in their games! No way!”

Katara rolled her eyes. 

“Ok Jet, just remember, we aren’t going to be able to come save you if you get taken again. So if you decide to go pick a fight with the Dai Li, be prepared to fight them on your own. Aang needs to talk to the Earth King as soon as possible and we wont have time to come help you if you go and get yourself into trouble. We already saved you once.”

Jet smirked, and his eyes grazed over her body, “I am forever thankful for you helping me Katara, I know you have every reason not to trust me… But I appreciate you coming to save me.”

She moved away from him and rolled her eyes, again.

She rolled her eyes a lot around Jet.

“I wouldn’t have had to save you if you wouldn’t have attacked Zuko, when HE tried to save you.”

Jet frowned.

“Well I’d much rather be rescued by a beautiful woman then a scruffy ash maker. So excuse me!”

“Ugh, Jet, you’re impossible. I will come get you after I clean up from breakfast. We will see what else we can help you remember.”

He smiled and gripped his bowl, turning around, he walked back to his Freedom Fighters and sat down. 

Katara took her own food and went to sit by Aang, when she looked up she saw Zuko watching her. They made eye contact and he looked back at his bowl quickly. Playing with his food again. 

Instead of sitting next to Aang she walked passed him and sat closer to Zuko. 

“You really need to eat your food.”

“I am.”

“No.. You’re playing with it. Like you have the last two times we have all ate together.”

“I’m just.. Not hungry.”

“Does Lee, from Ba Sing Se, not eat?”

“I don’t remember ever eating.”

“Well… We will help you remember eating. Its important to eat, if you don’t eat, you wont gain strength and you’ll get weak and eventually die. Do you want to die Lee?”

He looked at her with a crazy expression, his eye’s still blown out of proportion.

“I don’t think so?”

“Okay good. So eat your food. Please.”

He nodded and took a couple of bites. Katara smiled to herself feeling satisfied. She glanced over to see Aang looking over at her smiling. She smiled back. 

Maybe things were going to be ok.

\- - - - - -- - - - -

After breakfast Jet was ready for her to heal his mind, he sat cross legged on the ground smiling. 

Aang sat nearby, wanting to watch Katara work on Jet now. The monk was completely fascinated by Katara’s ability to see inside the mind of a person. It was an extremely powerful thing for someone to do.

Katara’s hand’s began to glow as she felt the different chi paths in Jet’s mind. A lot of his blockage was cleared up but there was a section of twisted energy that she needed to work through. He seemed to keep it guarded and it didn’t feel like the Dai Li messed with it much.

She wasn’t sure what it was. 

She pushed into it, hard, much like she did with Zuko and she felt the block release.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She saw Jet, a few years younger then he was now, with his Freedom Fighters. They were posted up high in the trees. They were watching a small caravan of people walking a dirt road through the woods. Based on the red and gold colors, they were Fire Nation.

Jet looked at one of the Freedom Fighter’s that Katara didn’t recognize and made a bird noise. The girl nodded and made a similar noise towards the three additional fighters that were scattered in the trees. 

She was a beautiful girl, most likely Earth Kingdom, with her tan skin and bright green eyes. She had sandy hair, the same color as Jet’s mom. It was pulled back in a tall ponytail that was braided. She wore Earth Kingdom armor, it was green and grey and very light weight. She carried a bow and arrow. 

Drawing her bow, she aimed her arrow at the wheel of the carriage. 

The caravan had a small ground of people in front and back, protected by three armored soldiers. There was a deep red colored carriage being pulled by two ostrich horses in the center. All together, it was a group of 10 people at most. 

It wasn’t a military movement, but the people on the ground definitely were of some noble decent. 

The women next to Jet released her arrow and it hit the wheel, splintering the wood which caused the carriage to falter and tilt to the side. The ostrich horse’s were spooked and the soldiers tried to grab the reins to calm them down. 

The Freedom Fighter’s dropped out of the trees as people started screaming. They wasted no time killing the soldiers and bringing the other people on the group to their knees.

The women with Jet smirked at him as she drew her bow waiting for him to open the carriage door. Before he did that, he walked over to her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips, she returned the affection and he turned back to open the door.

Katara heard a women scream as Jet pulled a well dressed Fire Nation woman out of the carriage as she held a small child. The child was young, just barely a toddler, and she clung to her mother’s dress as they fell to their knees.

“What is the Fire Nation doing in these woods?!” Jet asked, he pointed his blade at the woman and child.

He had his hooked blades ready, turning to the assortment of people on the ground. He repeated the same question.

“I believe I asked, what are Fire Nation people doing in these woods!?”

The women from the carriage shook slightly as she spoke from the ground.

“My name is Lady Lin and these are my servants, they are following me to the colonies so I can conduct business. I see you have already killed my guards, I hired them for protection. Please, I beg you not to hurt us, this is my young daughter. We are not part of the war, and we have no military affiliation. Please I beg you.”

“Shut up! You are Fire Nation, that means you are part of this war! You don’t deserve our mercy. You people never show anyone mercy!”

The women with the green eyes walked up to Jet and touched his arm. 

“We don’t need to do this, she has a young daughter. We can walk away now. We don’t need to kill them.” She whispered softly in Jet’s ear. 

Jet looked at her, Katara could see him hesitate, but the anger and hurt was so deep in Jet’s heart he couldn’t pull away from the situation. He turned back to the women holding her daughter on the floor and he raised his sword. 

Jet’s girlfriend went to grab his arm to stop him, when one of the servants jumped up and pulled out a dagger. She lunged for Jet but missed when his girlfriend stepped in to stop the strike. 

The green eyed Freedom Fighter grabbed Jet’s arm, just as the servant thrust the dagger into her neck. Coming down with such force, her blood splattered out of the open wound in her neck onto the servant’s face and onto Jet’s back.

The girl’s green eyes became cloudy as her hand’s tried to hold her open wound and stop the bleeding. Jet turned and started screaming. She fell into his arms as he tried to stop her from bleeding to death. 

It only lasted a couple of seconds before the young girl’s eyes clouded over and she died in Jet’s arms.

He cried, holding her tight against his chest rocking her slowly. When Jet finally looked up again, the rage was burning in his eyes. He stood slowly with the girl in his arms. One of his Freedom Fighter’s had the servant who stabbed his friend on her knees, the dagger she used pressed up against her throat. Jet looked her in the eyes.

“Kill them all. Take whatever they have.” He looked at the small girl in the woman’s arms. “No survivors.”

He turned his back to them and walked away, holding the dead woman tight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara gasped pulling away from Jet, tears swelling in her eyes.

She took a couple of shaky steps back, Jet crumpled to the floor holding his arms against his chest. Tears were falling from his eyes as his body lay on the ground. 

He didn’t say anything, and neither did Katara. 

Aang looked at Katara, “What happened?”

She looked at Jet and shook her head, “It is his story to tell. I am done healing him, he knows who he is now. Whoever that might be.”

She walked away, glancing at Zuko as she passed. He was watching Jet, with no emotion on his face. 

Katara grabbed some fresh clothing and the bar of soap. 

She needed to be clean. 

\- - - - - - - - - - 

The sun was high in the sky by the time she retuned from the river. Feeling much better after washing herself clean. She couldn’t get the images of the Fire Nation woman holding her daughter out of her head. She saw Jet give the order to kill them, he was an awful person. 

She can’t believe she kissed him. 

The thought made her want to throw up.

But part of her wondering… 

_If I was in that position, and it was Aang who was killed, or my brother… Would I have reacted with that kind of anger? There is no way I would have ordered the murder of a small child. No way, I am sure of that._

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She couldn’t let herself slip into a dark place. Especially not because of Jet.

Katara held the old clothing she had been wearing since they rescued Appa from Lake Laogai. Her fingers brushed over the dried blood stains on the back of her tunic. She completely forgot those were there.

It was Zuko’s blood on her clothing, after she carried him on her back up the ladder. 

The clothing was ruined, but she could still make other use of the fabric. Katara knew she needed to try to heal Zuko again, but given what she just saw with Jet; she needed to give her mind a little break.

She expected to see everyone just sitting around the fire but to her surprise, Zuko and Aang were standing by Appa and Aang was explaining all about the history of sky bisons. 

Sokka and the Freedom Fighters were playing cards, while Jet sat off in the distance and watching the tree line. He was still upset from the memory she unlocked for him earlier, it was a painful one for her to see, so she could only imagine how it felt to re live it. 

Toph was practicing her earth bending off to the side of camp, but Katara knew she was mostly listening to Aang and Zuko talk.

Katara got closer and saw Zuko smiling and Aang bouncing around, all excited. 

“So everyone who was an Air Nomad had a sky bison?”

“No, not everyone, but a lot of people did! I got to pick Appa when he was a baby. We grew up together!”

“That’s great. Are you sure he isn’t going to to bite me?”

Aang smiled and shook his head.

“No, he doesn’t usually bite people unless they are bad. You aren’t a bad guy Lee. So go ahead and pet him!”

Zuko took a nervous step forward as Appa’s eye shifted and looked at the boy with the scar. He made a low grumble noise and Zuko took another step back.

“Don’t be nervous Zu-Lee its fine, he wont bite you. I just know he will like you!”

Zuko took another step forward and reached out his hand and finally pet the large fuzzy beast.

He laughed, Zuko actually laughed, and put his other hand on Appa.

“Wow, he has so much hair!”

“Oh, I know! We have to try and bathe him every once and a while or he sheds like crazy!”

Appa turned to Zuko and licked the boy from head to toe. His hair on the side that Appa licked stuck straight up.

“What does that mean?” He asked Aang.

Aang grinned, “That means he likes you.”

Zuko looked at Appa and put his hands back in his fur again, “That’s cool. I like him too.”

Katara smiled at the former enemies playing with Appa. It was nice to see Zuko interacting with the rest of the group. Even if he thought he was Lee, and he was from Ba Sing Se… and he worked at a tea shop. 

\- - - - - - - - - - -

“Ok Zuko, you have to come down and stop petting Appa. I have to try and heal you again. Come down.”

Aang and Zuko popped their head from over the saddle on top of Appa, they had been up there for a while, talking and petting the sky bison. It had been a long time since she saw Aang this happy, not since before Appa went missing. It was nice to see him so genuinely excited and enjoying himself. 

Zuko looked over at Aang, “I have to go.”

Aang smiled, “I know, but you can always come back when you are done.”

Zuko’s eye brow went up, “You’re right.”

He slid down the bison and came over to where Katara was sitting and sat down in front of her. 

“Let me see your eyes, Lee.”

He turned and opened his eyes looking at her. It was beginning to worry her that his eyes were still so dilated and unfocused. This couldn’t be good for his eyesight. 

“Can you see alright?”

“Out of my right eye, yeah.”

“Oh… Do you not see well out of your left eye?”

“No it’s a little fuzzy.”

“What about your ear? Can you hear alright out of your left ear?”

“Not so much.”

“Hmm I wonder how I have never noticed that.”

Zuko shrugged. 

She pulled out the water in her canteen and her hands began to glow. 

“Ok Lee, I want you to try and remember a happy memory. Something that makes you happy. As far back as you can remember. Can you do that?”

He nodded as Katara moved her hands in rested them against his temples. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was faster coming this time, when the memory came into her view. 

There was a large body of water, it smelled like the ocean. The waves gently swashed onto the shoreline, ebbing back into the sea gently. The sun was beginning to set, the oranges and reds reflected of the water. It was almost as if the sea was sparkling. 

The sand was different then any sand she has ever seen, it was soft, a dark grey color. She wanted to reach down and touch it but she was in a memory, so she was unable to physically touch anything or anyone. She could feel the weather, but she wondered if that was just her own imagination.

Katara heard children screaming and laughing, she looked over her shoulder and saw two young children, a boy and girl running towards her. Followed by a boy who was much older. 

She recognized Zuko and Azula right away. They wore casual Fire Nation clothing, Azula’s hair was loose and it was shorter than she wore it, present day. 

Zuko’s hair was still long and tied in a phoenix tail with a red ribbon. He was smiling and laughing as he held his little sister’s hand.

They were really young, younger than the last memory she saw. Zuko must have been 5 or 6, and Azula was maybe 4. She still had a round baby face and a huge grin. 

_I wonder when Azula stopped smiling like that?_

The boy behind them was much older, possibly 15 or 16. 

He had dark brown hair and golden brown eyes, similar to Azula’s eye color. He was strong, tall and wore a big smile. Azula turned and threw a small orange flame at the boy chasing them.

“Hey no fire! I warned you Azula! I am going to get you!!”

The boy ran faster and caught up to the the kids. Katara saw Zuko pull Azula behind him as he shifted into a fighting stance.

“Oh Zuko, nice try!” The boy grabbed him easy and threw him over his shoulder as he kicked and punched the older boy’s back laughing. 

“Now you Azula!!” The older boy grabbed the small girl and threw her over his other shoulder.

Both kids were laughing as the boy confidently walked around with the children on his shoulders with no effort. They were trying to break out of his grip but he was too strong.

“What did you catch out here, Lu Ten?”

Katara recognized the man instantly, it was Zuko’s uncle. Just younger, and his hair was brown instead of grey. He wore a golden flame pendent in his top knot.

“Oh dad, you know how it is…. Two troublesome children trying to escape the Fire Nation’s clutches. What should I do with them?”

Iroh laughed, “Drown them in the ocean of course!”

Lu Ten smirked, “As you wish, Prince Iroh!”

Zuko and Azula started screaming as Lu Ten got close to the water. 

“Don’t! No! I don’t want to go in the water! Stop! Ahhhh we don’t want to be wet!!”

They pleaded with the boy as he laughed and got closer to the ocean water.

“Excuse me Prince Iroh, you are not going to let you son dump my children in the water right before dinner are you? If you do that I will put you, personally, in charge of drying and changing their clothing before we eat.”

A woman’s voice broke through the commotion, her tone was stern but sweet. Katara saw her standing on the edge of the house’s deck smiling. She looked like Azula, but softer. She was tall with long dark brown hair with half pulled into a top knot. Her skin was pale and free of any blemishes, she had a pink tint to her cheeks and thin lips. Her eyes were soft and her smile was sweet. Katara could see she was full of kindness. 

Iroh grabbed his stomach as he laughed. 

“I guess we have to re think our strategy son! I for one do not want the wrath of the great Lady Ursa to come down on us. Should we let the prisoners go?”

Lu Ten rolled his eyes and let Zuko and Azula down off his shoulders. “I guess. You’re lucky your mom came to save you! Next time you’re going in the water!”

Zuko smirked and grabbed Azula’s hand.

“We’ll see Lu Ten!”

Even as a child he was a fighter, never giving up. Azula just smiled and giggled behind him.

“Alright mighty warriors, its time for dinner, lets get you washed up and sitting at the table. Come on now.” 

She saw Zuko turn towards his mom and smiled, “Yes mom. Come on, Zula.”

“No! I don’t want to go inside yet!”

Zuko looked down at his little sister, “Aren’t you hungry?”

“NO!”

He got down on a knee close to her and whispered.

“Well if you come in for dinner now, ill sneak you out tonight and we can go to the beach and watch the firefly fish. Sound good?”

Her little face light up with excitement.

“Ok Zuzu!”

He smiled and lead his sister inside followed by Lu Ten and Iroh. For a moment, they seemed like a happy and normal family. 

_What changed?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara let down her hands and felt a sting of sadness in her heart. 

The boy sitting in front of her was a broken version of the young child she saw running through the sand, taking care of his sister and respecting his mother. 

She wanted to help him more.

“How do you feel Zuko?”

“I’m not Zuko.”

“But didn’t you recognize yourself?”

“…. I think? I don’t know.”

“Why don’t we try again, this time think of the last thing you remember before getting taken by the Dai Li? Try to think about your most recent life.”

She saw his head bounce up and down as he nodded and Katara brought the water back up this head and pressed into his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was an eerie green light, she knew immediately they were back in Lake Laogai. She felt panic in her chest, she didn’t want to watch Zuko get beat again. It was too hard to watch. 

She looked around and saw him hanging by the chains, the same place she found and recused him. 

He was struggling to take pressure off his wrists, stretching his midsection taller to keep the metal chains from cutting into the skin anymore than it already had. 

Blood was running down his arms, it looked so painful. 

The door opened and Long Feng came through, he looked evil as always. 

“Hello Lee. How are you feeling today?”

Zuko looked up, his eyes were cloudy and his pupils were large, but there was still enough gold to recognize those eyes as Zuko’s. 

He didn’t say anything, Long Feng nodded as one of the Dai Li stepped forward and grabbed his hair lifting his head to look at Long Feng.

“If you stopped resisting so much, things would go much smoother for you.”

Zuko glared at Long Feng and still didn’t say a word.

“As you wish. Stubborn fire bender.”

The Dai Li agent used his stone hands to punch Zuko in the face, slamming the rock into his scarred eye. Zuko winced, and his breathing increased. He still stayed silent. 

Two more Dai Li agents came into the room and they carried a tray with another needled containing the black liquid she saw from a previous memory. 

“This is a new drug that we have acquired, its quite amazing actually. It’s designed to make our re education methods permanent. But if you don’t dose it out just right, the drug will melt your brain. We have never used it before so you should feel honored to be our test subject. Hold him still.”

Zuko struggled under the Dai Li’s grasp. Long Feng injected Zuko personally this time. He thrust the needle deep in Zuko’s neck and slowly released the dark liquid into his body. 

Zuko twitched a few times before his eyes glazed over and his body went limp. The chains on his wrists attached to the ceiling was the only thing holding him up. 

“Get me once he is awake. Its time for phase two, he is almost broken.”

Everything went black and Katara felt the memory slip out of her grasp. 

~~~~~~~~~~

She sat back, laying herself down on the grass, allowing herself to rest. Zuko’s mind was exhausting. His memories were intense and vivid. They were complex and full of emotion. 

She thought about the boy on the beach, the one who loved his little sister. 

She thought of their laughter and the games they played. 

Katara never heard Zuko ever mention his mother, she heard him speak about his father but never his mother. She was beautiful and seemed kind.

_What happened to her? I saw her when he was young, but from the memory last night they said she left. Zuko said something about her dying? His father… Killing her? I can’t imagine a husband killing his wife. I wonder what happened?_

“Are you alright Zuko?”

“I… I don’t know…. I don’t know…. I don’t know….”

She grew concerned, moving in front of him she saw the fire bender holding his head his eyes were closed tightly as he repeated his words. 

“Zuko, focus on me. Look at me.”

Slowly, he looked at her and to her delight she saw his pupils were a slight bit smaller. She could see more of his gold iris. She grinned with excitement.

“You’re coming out of the Dai Li control. It’s slow, and I am sure it is so confusing, but you’ll be ok. I promise. Its working. I am so happy its working! Do you feel any different?”

He shook his head, “Kind of… I remember being underground. I know they did stuff to me, I know it, even if I can’t remember all of it. But I can’t remember anything past that. I just know the tea shop, and living in Ba Sing Se… I see those kids, and I know you said one of them is me. But I don’t remember that. Its like… I don’t know who those people are….”

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut again and Katara watched him pull himself in, resting his head on his knees. She couldn’t help herself, she put her hand on his back and rubbed small circles. 

Her mom used to do that to her when she was sad. 

Zuko flinched at the touch but to her surprise he relaxed his shoulders and let her touch him. She was trying to comfort him and he was allowing it. 

After a few minutes he looked up at her and gave her a fake smile. 

“Thanks Katara. For helping me.”

“Of course Zuko, I will do everything I can to help you. Do you want to go pet Appa with Aang?”

He nodded, and Katara helped him raise to his feet. He was still too skinny, but at least his eyes looked like they would slowly return to normal. 

Aang saw Zuko walking over to him and he smiled happily and waved.

“LEE! Missed you buddy, wanna hangout with Appa and me?”

Zuko smiled and nodded, “You can… Umm.. You can call me Zuko. I think that’s my real name.”

Aang’s smile grew even bigger, “I’d love to call you Zuko!”

Zuko and Aang laid back on Appa’s tail and Aang started talking about the Air Nomads again, a mile a minute. Zuko just laid there and watched him, nodding every once and a while to show he was listening. 

As Katara stared at the boys she thought back to what Aang said about him asking Zuko if they could be friends. 

Maybe they will be friends. 

\- - - - - - - - - - 

Back in Ba Sing Se, Long Feng sat in his office. His chair facing the green crystal fire he had burning, the fire reminded him of his missing prisoner. The one he desperately needed to retrieve. 

There was a knock at his door as two Dai Li agents walked in.

“We tracked the Avatar using his bison’s fur. We found their camp.”

Long Feng smirked. 

“We have to be delicate in this situation, they are a powerful group to attack head on. Even with the fire Prince under our control. We must handle this… discreetly.”

“I have two men positioned in the woods just outside of the field they are camping in. The Water Tribe woman keeps using her glowing water and placing it on the Prince’s head. We think she is trying to heal him.”

Long Feng’s smirk disappeared, “Is it possible for her to do that?”

“I am not sure sir, I do not know much about Water Tribe healing, but from what I do know it can be very powerful. There is a chance she can reverse the process if given enough time.”

Long Feng’s eyes narrowed as he stared into the flames.

“Well lets not give her enough time then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dun... Thanks for reading. 
> 
> Let me know what you think :) 
> 
> <3


	4. Captured

# Captured

Somehow, the day got away from the Avatar group. The sun was beginning to set as Katara started preparing dinner. The afternoon was calm, everyone seemed content with what they were doing. 

Except Sokka.

Sokka was getting restless. 

“We can’t just sit around all day and do nothing! We need to go confront the Earth King. Tomorrow! I know healing Lee/Zuko is just sooo important but I think the…” He started whispering, “Invasion plan.. is more important.”

He did have a point, Aang did get really distracted with Zuko and Appa today. Katara was so busy healing Jet and Zuko she didn’t even think about their original plan to split up and have half to them confront the Earth King. 

So they set the plan back in motion. Tomorrow morning, they would split up. Aang, Toph and Sokka would go break into the palace and speak with the Earth King. Hopefully putting an end to Long Feng and the Dai Li. 

Katara prepared a vegetable stir fry with rice, she was thankful that Zuko offered to help her cut vegetables again. After dinner she planned on having another healing session with him. 

“You seem to be feeling better, Zuko.”

“Oh…Thank you.”

“Did you remember anything else today? While you were spending time with Aang.”

“No, but I learned a lot about the Air Nomads and I think Appa likes me. I learned I like spending time with Aang, he is nice.”

Katara smiled and stirred the rice, pulling it off the fire.

“I’m glad you like Aang, I think he really likes you too.”

She was surprised to see Zuko smile and flush a little.

“I don’t remember having any friends. I see the girl in my memories but I don’t know if she is my friend or not.”

“I believe that is your sister. Azula.”

“Oh, I have a sister?”

“Yes she is younger than you.”

“Where is she?”

“I’m not sure, but your sister…”

She stopped herself. Was it her place to tell him they didn’t get along? She remembered the abandon village when Azula had struck his uncle with lightning. Azula didn’t seem to think twice about attacking and killing Zuko either. In his memories, she seemed innocent enough and that they still had a healthy sister and brother relationship. Similar to her and Sokka. 

“Maybe tonight we can focus on memories about your sister? How does that sound?”

Zuko nodded slowly as he finished cutting the rest of the veggies, he handed them to Katara to put in the pan. 

“Sounds good. Thank you Katara.”

She met his eyes for a moment, they were still so lost, so unlike the burning gold eyes she remembered about Zuko. But at least he was starting to accept that he might not be Lee from Ba Sing Se. 

The group sat together and ate in relative silence. Katara looked over at Jet a few times but he was still in one of his moods after the memory she uncovered. Before they parted ways Katara knew she had to say something to him about what she saw. He looked like he needed a friend right now. Based on how Longshot and Smellerbee were acting towards him, he must not have shared what he remembered with them. 

It must have been from before they joined the Freedom Fighters. 

Zuko sat next to Aang this time which surprised Katara, but more surprising was that halfway through eating Momo decided to perch himself on Zuko’s shoulder. The fire bender got extremely stiff and looked at Aang.

“Your flying mouse rabbit is on my shoulder. Is it going to bite me?”

Aang smiled and laughed, “No Zuko, that’s just Momo, he is a flying lemur. Sokka tried to eat him the first time we all met and Momo didn’t bite him, so I think you are going to be ok.”

Sokka rolled his eyes, “I was starving, we had no meat or food for days!”

Katara rolled her eyes and shook her head, “It was like, a couple of hours. Sokka chased Momo all over the Southern Air Temple.”

Zuko looked at them and nodded slowly. 

“Southern Air Temple… That’s where your people live right Aang?”

Everyone got quiet. No one really knew what to say about the Air Nomads, it was clear Aang didn’t talk to Zuko about the genocide of his people. He must have stayed in the happy memories department, so he did not upset the already delicate fire bender.

Lucky for them they had Jet.

The guy who always said whatever he wanted.

Even if it was a completely touchy subject that should be handled… Delicately.

“No Lee, the Air Nomads don’t live there because YOUR people killed them all. Aang is the last air bender alive. Thanks to the Fire Nation, they are all dead.”

Zuko’s eyes got wide and he looked at Jet and then at Aang.

“They are all dead?”

Aang got really small, his voice was just above a whisper.

“Yeah…”

Zuko’s brow furrowed, “You and I just talked about them earlier today… How can they all be dead? That’s not fair.”

Jet interjected again.

“No its not, that’s why we are at war with the Fire Nation, they are evil. They kill whoever they want without thinking-“

Zuko cut him off.

“Well, we can stop them.”

Everyone stared at him. Sokka’s mouth fell open, the food he was chewing fell out into the grass. 

He might have picked it back up and ate it later.

“Yeah, we can stop them from killing people. You’re the Avatar right? You can stop them, and we can help. I mean… I only make tea, but maybe I can learn to use a weapon, or try and use fire… but I can help you. I don’t want to see you hurting, its not fair they killed your people. I don’t want innocent people killed.” 

Katara and Aang met eye contact as Zuko went back to touching his food, he didn’t say anything else and Sokka shook his head as if he was trying to wake himself up from a dream.

Toph smiled and broke the silence.

“Sounds good Sparky. You can help us defeat the Fire Nation. Great plan!”

Zuko nodded, “Am I Sparky?”

“Yeah you are!”

“But I thought I was Zuko?”

Jet frowned, “No you’re Lee?”

Zuko groaned, “This is confusing.”

Jet nodded, “At least we can agree on that.”

\- - - - - - - - - - 

Katara and Zuko cleaned up from dinner together. Sokka and Toph were playing the Freedom Fighter’s at some game involving rocks and cards, there was a lot of yelling and insults being thrown. Katara couldn’t care less, but they all seemed really into it. Toph was extremely competitive. 

Aang was a mixture of happy and sad from the dinner conversation so he decided to spend some time hanging out with Appa. He was lost in his memories of the Air Nomads, and his lost civilization. 

Zuko and Katara worked in silence until everything was clean, he finally looked at her.

She smiled.

“Thanks for eating dinner tonight, I am glad its getting easier for you to eat.”

“I know you like it when I eat, and I didn’t want to upset you.”

She flushed a little.

Why was she flushing?

Only the spirits would know.

“Do you want me to work on your memories?”

“If that’s what you want.”

They walked over next to the fire and she sat behind him, her hands glowing again she pushed them a against his mind.

“This time I want you to think about your sister, try and remember what you can about her.”

“Ok.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were in an large arena in the middle of the palace, with an open roof so the natural light could reach the floor. Tall pillars lined the sides of the cobblestone area. The pillars were stone, with red Fire Nation banners hung on each one, starting from the top stopping a few feet form the floor.

In between the pillars there were torches secured into the ground that came up to around six feet or so. On one side there was a weapons area, holding all sorts of various weapons. On the very edge of the arena there was a seating area for people to spectate the training. 

She saw a tall man sitting there. He has long black hair and bright gold eyes. He looked almost identical to Zuko… 

The Fire Lord.

Her heart began to race, her hand’s shook as her eyes scanned the sinister looking man. He wore no shirt just a pair of training pants. He was in extremely good shape, built strong but lean. He was tall and his long black hair was pulled into a half top knot, a gold flame crown poked out of his hair. 

_He must already be Fire Lord in this memory._

His eyes were the same as Zuko’s eyes, bright gold, dancing with flames. Katara imagined Zuko would look like him when he got older. Well, if he didn’t have the huge scar on his face. Katara has never seen the Fire Lord before, he was a strong and confident looking man, he radiated evil.

Exactly how she expected him to look. 

She saw Azula in the fighting area, performing her different fire bending forms. She was young still, around 8, her discipline was incredible. 

Her hair was perfect, her movements were controlled and filled with purpose. Katara saw her father smirk in approval as she did a front flip pushing fire out of her feet propelling her higher into the air as she landed perfectly. Azula stopped, turned to the Fire Lord and bowed. 

He stood when he spoke to her, “Good job Azula, once again you prove to be a skilled fire bender. Unlike your worthless brother. Maybe you can teach him something useful today. Prince Zuko, why don’t you spar with your sister?”

She saw in the corner on the other side of the arena, a small Zuko, no older then 10, he was trembling and didn’t look up from the floor.

“Azula.. She is more advanced than me… She will beat me in if we sp-“

Katara saw flames shoot out of the Fire Lords hands, “Did I ask you?! Or did I ask your sister if she would be willing to spar with someone as pathetic as you?! Watch your tongue boy. She would be doing you a favor by wasting her time and talents on someone who is still on the basics.”

Zuko nodded not saying anything. His entire body trembling. 

Azula looked conflicted, but her eyes flashed back to her signature coldness as she looked to her father rising to her feet.

“Yes father, I would be more than honored to fill your request and teach my brother, through a duel.”

She turned to Zuko, “Shift into fighting position, Zuzu.”

Her eyes were cold but Katara could see a hint of the little girl from her bedroom and the beach, the one that loved her brother. 

Zuko shifted into a fighting stance, his arms still shaking. 

She waited to see if he would make the first move, which he did. 

If Katara didn’t know any better she would have thought that Zuko was a good fire bender for his age, but he looked absolutely pathetic next to Azula. 

Her movements were fast and calculated. Zuko tired to defend himself and even tried to take the offensive a few times, but he was no where near as skilled as his sister. Katara watched as she brought her brother to his knees. She stopped, turning to her father, she smiled and bowed.

“I believe I won, father.”

He frowned, “Your bother is still conscious. So you have not won yet.”

Katara saw Azula’s face flinch for a moment, but she kept complete control. 

“I must apologize father, what is it you would like me to do?”

“I would like you to finish the fight.”

She turned to her brother. Zuko’s eyes were wide and filled with fear as he struggled to get to his feet and shift back into a fighting stance. His gold eyes flickered between Azula and the Fire Lord. 

Azula seemed unsure what to do, she flinched when her father rise from his seat and walk into the arena.

“You are displaying weakness like your brother, Azula, I should not have to demonstrate something so simple for you. But I will, this once.”

Azula stepped off to the side and Zuko’s eyes filled with fear and he began to take a few steps back from the approaching Fire Lord. 

“You dare flee from me you worthless child?!”

Fire danced from Ozai’s fingers, Zuko stopped backing up and his arms were shaking more prominently at this point. 

Ozai kicked out his leg catching the young boy’s ankle, as he tripped, Ozai grabbed his face and slammed his small body into the stone floor. Zuko hit the floor so hard, Katara heard the air being knocked out of his lungs. 

Ozai let go and waited to see if the boy would rise, he twitched a few times but didn’t lift off the floor. 

The Fire Lord turned to Azula whose eyes were wide as she stared at her brother on the floor. 

“That’s how you finish a fight, let us go get cleaned up for lunch.”

“What about Zu-“

“Leave him.”

Ozai left the training ring and Azula followed, she turned back to her brother and caught his cloudy gold eyes watching her as he flickered into unconsciousness. 

Katara couldn’t breathe, the inhumanity from the Fire Lord was enraging. Her arms shook as she pushed deeper into his memories, hoping to uncover something more positive. His mind was leading the way, she was just here to heal. 

Zuko was a little older now, he and Azula were sparring, he seemed faster and more skilled then the last memory she saw. 

He dodged Azula’s attacks and spun on the floor creating a wall of flames sending it straight for his sister. Her fire was blue now, she seemed to have even more control of her motions, blocking his flames easily. 

Her eyes were lacking the compassion she had in the last few memories. She seemed colder, and more determined to prove herself. Their father watched the spar from the sidelines. 

Zuko seemed colder as well, he was giving his best to knock her off balance. But she was too advanced for him, he was clearly outmatched. 

Ozai interjected, “Why don’t you show your brother what we have been working on Azula?”

She smirked and nodded, standing straight her arms began spinning as a crackle of electricity appeared. She sent a small burst of lightning into the air. She was so young to possess that kind of power. 

Ozai frowned, “You waste your power, striking into the air. I said show your bother, your power.”

Azula’s face didn’t show any emotion, she turned towards her father and bowed. 

“If I were to strike Zuko, I doubt his weak body would be able to handle the electricity. It might kill him.”

Ozai smirked, “We wont know until you try.”

Zuko’s eyes shot open as she began summoning the lighting. He didn’t know what to do, he moved into a fighting position. He looked terrified as she shot the small bolt of lighting towards her brother.

He moved his arms into a defensive position guarding his core and the lighting struck him head on, he screamed something awful.

He fell to the floor convulsing on the stone. Azula turned to her father and bowed. 

He smirked watching his son on the floor twitching and smoldering. 

“Are you alive still Prince Zuko?”

Azula looked at her bother and Katara could see a glimpse of terror in her eyes. She blinked twice and it was gone. 

Zuko was shaking on the ground but he slowly tried to lift himself up before falling back onto the stone. His body literally smoking. 

“He is alive.”

Azula spoke as she watched her father. He stood and walked over to his son slowly. Flipping Zuko to his back he studied the small boy. He reached out and patted Zuko’s cheek, the small boys eyes were rolling in the back of his head slowly. 

“You’ll be fine.”

He stood back up and motioned for Azula to follow. She looked back at her brother on the floor shaking before turning forward and following her father out of the training area. 

Katara saw Zuko laying on the floor struggling to breathe, he wasn’t unconscious yet. She wanted to run over and gather him in her arms and heal his injuries. But she couldn’t, this was the past, she was only here to witness it. 

Zuko tried to rise, but he was unable, she watched as a stream of tears leave his eyes and dropped to the floor. He didn’t make a sound but she could see the utter devastation in his eyes. 

Ozai was determined to destroy his son, and he was using Azula to do it. 

Katara felt sick, the memories faded away and she was back in camp. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She took her hands away from his head and fell back on the floor, she was shaking, tears streaming down her face.

“He’s a monster… He is a fucking monster…”

Zuko turned and looked at her, his eyes just as dead and dilated as before. He turned towards her and slowly reached out his hand, he trembled a little before setting it on her shoulder. She stared at his hand and then at his face, he forced a small smile.

“Its ok.”

That’s all he said before he let her go and walked over to the fire sitting down and not saying another word. 

She wiped her tears away and stood. Katara stormed past everyone in camp and when Aang yelled out for her she waved her hand at him, not even turning around.

“I’m taking a walk I need some air.”

She wasn’t sure how far she walked, she just kept going until she got to a steep ledge overlooking a forest. The moon was out now and it made her feel calmer. She stood near the edge of the cliff basking in the moonlight. She looked up at Yue and the tears started forming in her eyes again.

“Why Yue… WHY! Why, why, why…”

She heard Aang’s voice break through her words.

“Why what Katara? Are you alright? Did something happen with Zuko?”

She turned to see her best friend standing there, he looked so concerned for her. 

She started to tremble as he moved closer and brought her in for a hug. It was a sweet gesture, but his small body and awkwardness didn’t comfort her like she needed. 

He broke away and looked at her, his eyes full of compassion and understanding. 

“If you need to talk about it, I am here.”

She shook her head, “Its not my right to talk about it Aang…”

He looked down at the ground, a hint of disappointment in his face.

“I understand that Katara, but if it’s going to affect you like this, you need to have some way to cope with it. It’s not fair for you to take the burden of someone else’s pain on your shoulders. It will destroy you. Just like the thought of my people being slaughtered and my inability to help them would kill me if I kept that burden on my shoulders. You can’t take people’s memories and hold them so close that they begin to hurt you. Its not your fault Katara…”

“I know Aang… But… Its so awful. The Fire Lord is a monster. He destroyed his children. He turned Azula into a heartless monster… She wasn’t like that. I saw her, she was sweet and fun and loved her brother, and oh spirits… Zuko… He was so small… and his father just….”

Aang let her drift off before bringing her into another hug, “Its ok Katara, Zuko is alive, he is with us now. We can help him. You can help him.”

She let the tears continue to fill her eyes and fall down her face. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Katara gained control of her emotions. 

“I need to go check on him…”

Aang nodded, “I know.”

She smiled at him and they walked back to camp. 

Zuko looked up from the fire as they approached, he didn’t watch them long before his eyes went back to the dancing flames. 

She sat next to him, they sat there in silence for a while before Katara could figure out even what to say. 

“Are you ok Zuko?”

“… Was that my sister?”

“…Yeah.”

“And the… Man… Who was he?”

“The Fire Lord…”

“He called me… Prince… so that means…”

“Yes Zuko, he is your father… I am so sorry…”

“Don’t be.”

“But-“

“Its fine. Just, don’t. Please.”

She nodded and took her eyes away from him. They sat there in silence watching the fire. 

“I am going to sleep, ok?”

She looked at him, his eyes cloudy and weak staring back at her. She was concerned for him but at this point she didn’t even know what to do. 

“Ok Zuko, goodnight.”

He stood and went to his bedroll, laying it out, he crawled inside. She saw him pull himself close and he grew still. 

Katara watched him for a while before turning back to Aang who was laying on Appa’s tail staring up the the stars. She stood and walked over to him laying on Appa’s tail next to him, they sat together watching the moon.

“What if I am doing more damage then good? What if it is better to let him pretend to be Lee from Ba Sing Se and just drop him off at a tea shop and allow him to be happy?”

It was a while before Aang answered, “Zuko’s destiny isn’t to work at a tea shop, Katara.”

She sighed, “I guess. I just want to help, not hurt him.”

“Sometimes without pain there isn’t anything to heal, and the healing part is what matters most. He might have to relive these things to have the love and support he needs from us to help him deal with it. I am assuming he had to deal with everything alone, and it made him bitter and angry. He has a chance now to have love and support around him. He is a good person, he just needs help.”

She thought of Zuko laying alone in the arena, broken and hurt without anyone to help him. 

“We wont let him be alone ever again.”

Aang tuned his head and looked at her, the moonlight enhancing her already beautiful features.

“You’re a good person Katara. I am lucky to know you.”

She gave him a small smile, before yawning, “I think I am ready for bed.”

With that, she stood went to her bedroll and with one more glance over at Zuko she crawled inside and went to sleep. Her mind drifted to evil gold eyes smirking down at her.

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Morning came and Katara was woken by… Sokka?

He was unloading supplies off Appa.

“Sokka? What are you doing awake so early?”

“I am not letting the day get away from us again. I can’t let everyone get distracted by sad life story boy, or angry hair boy; we need to go talk to the Earth King. Based on how messed up these two are from the Dai Li, something is telling me the Earth King might not be just a normal guy. We need to be prepared for a fight.”

Katara chuckled, “Which one is angry hair boy?”

Sokka looked insulted, like she was supposed to know which one he was referring to. 

“Jet is obviously angry hair boy, his hair is styled all… Angry like. Zuko, Lee, whatever, he is sad story boy because he just looks sad. All the time, even when he is smiling. Which is creepy. Extremely creepy. I am actually excited for you to fix him so he can go back to frowning again. That is the Zuko we all know and hate.”

Katara frowned, she didn’t want to hate Zuko. She didn’t want to let his father have his way with him and be successful in destroying him. She wasn’t going to let that happen. 

Sokka walked over to Aang and shook him. Aang tried rolling over, burying his face in Appa’s tail. 

“Get up!”

“Five more minutes….”

“UP NOW!”

Sokka yelled and suddenly the entire camp was awake. Zuko shot up out of his bedroll and Jet drew his swords. Longshot had his bow ready. Smellerbee and Toph just rubbed their eyes.

“Snoozles, what are you doing yelling first thing in the morning when we have people with… Issues… Sitting right here. You can’t just yell like that! Look, Jet is about to have a heart attack!”

Katara laughed, Jet did look ready to either fight or pass out. His eyes were not fully awake and now that she was looking at him… His hair did look angry.

She looked over at Zuko who was just sitting up, blinking. His hair all disheveled. 

Something in Katara wanted to go over there and fix it.

But she definitely wasn’t going to do that.

Toph kicked in her earth tent and walked over to where Sokka and Aang were. With a quick movement of her feet she lifted the earth under Appa’s tail flinging the air bender out of his slumber.

“Ok, ok I am up!” 

The three were ready to leave camp after an hour, but Katara convinced them to leave after they ate something. She was nervous for them, especially going without her. But she understood that someone had to stay behind. As much as Sokka and Toph were great, there was no way she would leave either of them here alone with Jet and Zuko. 

She heated up some jook for everyone, adding a few dried pieces of fruit. The group ate in silence, trying to ignore the tension they had about the upcoming mission. After breakfast Katara hugged everyone goodbye, she tried to hold back her tears so they wouldn’t feel bad about leaving her.

Zuko watched them go standing next to Katara, Aang smiled at him. 

“We will be back soon, Zuko, keep Katara safe for me.”

Zuko nodded, even though Katara was sure he didn’t have the slightest idea how to begin to protect her. Aang was just trying to be nice. 

“Yip Yip!”

And just like that they were gone. Katara didn’t take her eyes off Appa until he was well out of her sight. 

She sighed and went back to cleaning up after breakfast. Zuko came up to her and offered to help, but she didn’t need very much help cleaning up the easily prepared meal. With her water bending the dishes were done, and she froze the leftovers for tomorrow morning. 

She knew she should try to help Zuko, she couldn’t just give up on him because she saw some hard things. She looked at the fire bender’s scar wondering…

_What kind of memory is that?_

Another cold chill went down her spine, she didn’t want to think about it. 

Wiping her hands she walked over to Zuko and smiled.

“Do you want to work on your memory?”

She saw him hesitate, she could understand why.

“Um… Not really, but if you think I should, I will.”

“I think you have to remember in order to heal. I know its hard, trust me, I know about painful memories. But if you don’t recover your true self you will be lost like this forever.”

Zuko shrugged, “I don’t know, Lee seems to only have happy memories. Maybe I will just stay Lee.”

“Zuko… You can’t do that. Maybe we can recover some happy memories? What do you think?”

“Ok.”

She stood behind him and sat down, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths she pressed her hands to his forehead. 

“Think of the time when you were the happiest.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She opened her eyes and realized she is standing in a beautiful garden. She can see the red and gold walls in the distance, so this oasis must still be in the Fire Nation palace. There are beautiful trees, flowers, and in the middle is a tranquil pond. A large tree hands over the pond, giving shade to those who sit underneath it. She sees a women and a small boy sitting under tree next to the pond.

The women swirls her fingers through the water while the boy sits close to her, one of her arms draped across his core. She hums a familiar tune, Katara can’t remember where she has heard it before. 

They are quiet and Katara can see it’s a small Zuko with her, he must be around 4 or 5. His hair isn’t in a perfect phoenix tail, but more in a messy top knot.

He is wearing casual clothing, and his eyes look red like he was crying recently. Katara recognizes the woman as his mother, she remembered her kind face from the beach memory

The women smiled down at Zuko, “I brought us something.”

Zuko blinks his big, golden child eyes up at his mom, “What did you bring?”

She reaches into her robe and pulls out some bread. 

Zuko smiles as she breaks a piece in half and hands him one side. He does a little wiggle of excitement and throws a small piece into the water. As if on cue a mother turtle duck and her babies appeared quacking out of the reeds.

They mother and son sat in silence feeding the small animals. He smiled at his mom before he threw another piece into the water.

“I love you mom.”

“I love you too, Zuko.”

The memory fades into darkness, Katara can feel his mind searching for more. She uses her water to push through the thick energy that is trying to keep them out of his memories. Her healing energy is able to dissipate the darkness allowing his mind to remember.

There is an outdoor arena, Katara feels her chest tighten. She can’t bare to watch Zuko’s father torture him again. But this outdoor area is different, it has a smooth, white stone flooring with green shrubbery and a rock garden off to the side. The air is light and crisp with the sun high in the sky.

She sees Zuko, he is wearing training pants and no shirt. His body is not nearly as damaged as it was present day, but she can still see the faint signs of burn scars. He is young still, maybe 9 or 10? He is training with his duel broadswords. 

A tan man with formal clothing is sparring with him, they are both smiling as they work through the movements. Zuko is fast, and calculated. Katara is impressed watching him move through the motions, somehow he anticipates the older man’s next move and knocks the him down. Blades to his throat he smiles, no smirk, just a natural smile. 

“I win.”

“Yes Prince Zuko, you have really become quite the swordsman. I am proud of your progression this summer.”

Zuko reached out his arm and helps the man to his feet. He sets his hands on the young fire bender’s shoulder and smiles down at him. 

“Are you ready for tea and lunch?”

Zuko groans. 

“You and my uncle and the tea. Everything is always about tea.”

The man smiles again as they make their way inside the house. The home is large and it is clear he is a wealthy man. 

“When you get older I am sure you will understand the importance of tea.”

“Father doesn’t drink tea.”

“Well maybe he should.”

Zuko laughs, “I can’t imagine him and uncle drinking tea together.”

The man shakes his head, “That would be something to see.”

“Thanks for letting me stay with you this summer and learn sword fighting, I had a good time. I wish I could stay longer.”

“I wish you could stay longer as well, but I received word from the Fire Lord that he would like you to return to the palace.”

Katara could see Zuko flinch a bit, but he nodded and straightened his back making eye contact with the nobleman. 

“Yes, I will do as he wishes…. But I can come back right?”

“Of course, Prince Zuko, you are always welcome here. Maybe next time we can convince your uncle to come with you! He needs to visit his old friends more.”

“I will tell him when I see him again, he has been off on his spirit journey and is traveling the word so I have not seen him much. But when he does come back I will let him know we need to come visit you.”

“I would appreciate that, now lets see what was prepared for us for lunch shall we?”

The man put his hand on Zuko’s back and guided him into the dining area just as the memory faded. 

Katara felt his mind let go and she allowed her hands to drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She smiled to herself, those memories were so much nicer then what she had to deal with last night. She was glad that Zuko didn’t have to relive anymore pain, at least right now. 

Before she could say anything to him, she saw movement in the tree line by their camp. She would have assumed it was an animal, or the wind, anything except the Dai Li.

There was no way they would know where they were. 

Before her brain could process a single thought, the earth beneath them began to shift. She felt her body being thrown away from Zuko, she hit the ground a few feet away from Jet.

Jet and the Freedom Fighters were up, weapons drawn. Katara pulled the rest of her water from her water skin and formed a whip as she waited for the attackers to appear. Movement on all sides of camp made her head snap around, the Dai Li were everywhere.

They were here and there were at least 15 that she could see.

They were here for Zuko.

It was utter chaos, Jet did his best fighting against three Dai Li agents with his hooked blades, he used the anger he had for them to fuel his attacks.

Long shot was trying to use his bow and arrow against the earth benders, but they were too fast. He was the first to go down. The stone cuffs hit him in the neck, blocking his breath before his arms were encased behind his back. 

Smellerbee saw her friend his the ground and that moment of distraction resulted in her body being entrapped in stone up to her neck. She was unable to move but she could breath and speak. She saw the water bender and her leader fighting for their lives. 

“Watch out Jet! To your left!”

The boy turned just as one of the Dai Li stone hands flew past his face. 

“Thanks Smellerbee!!”

Katara glanced over at Zuko, she was too far away to help him but he seemed to be holding his own – much to her surprise.

His body was moving on his instincts. He wasn’t able to use his fire and he didn’t have swords but he had impressive hand to hand combat. He was dodging their attacks and even managed to knock a couple of the agents to the ground. 

Katara was freezing as many Dai Li as she could, trying to keep their arms from being mobile so they couldn’t earth bend. She was running out of water. So she reverted back to the traditional method of whipping the water around. She had a few agents trying to move in on her as she moved closer to Jet, soon they were back to back.

Katara was trying to stay focused on her fight but she could help but worry about the fire bender alone on the other side of camp. He wouldn’t be able to fight them off for long without a weapon or his fire. She had to get back over there. 

Before she could do anything she heard Zuko’s voice and watched as he hit the ground. The Dai Li had one of his arms stuck to the ground and they were moving in closer. She saw him trying to get himself out of the restraint but he was unable to break the stone without his bending. 

In the blink of an eye he was completely immobile. The Dai Li had his arms behind his back and his legs tied together with earth, he was struggling trying to get free.

Katara watched in horror as one of the Dai Li agents approached them and pulled out a needle, he removed the protective casing. She watched as he thrust the needle deep into Zuko’s neck and injected him with the familiar black liquid. He met her eyes for a slip second, before he twitched a few times and went limp. 

The agent threw him over his shoulder and nodded to the agents next to him. They left into the woods, leaving Katara and Jet to fight the remaining Dai Li.

“STOP!!! You can’t take him!! PLEASE!!”

Katara tried screaming, she fought hard, she knew she was doing everything she could to get to Zuko. 

But it wasn’t enough.

The last thing she remembered was hitting the ground, before everything went dark. 

\- - - - - - - - - - 

It was a tough process but they finally convinced the Earth King that there WAS a war, and that Long Feng WAS evil. 

Nothing was more satisfying to Sokka, then watching Long Feng taken into custody by his own Dai Li agents. 

“Long Feng is now, Long GONE! Heh??”

No one laughed. 

Except Sokka.

Aang bowed to the Earth King, “It is getting late in the day and I was going to go get our friends back at camp and bring them to the palace if you don’t mind?”

The Earth King smiled, “Of course not! Please, go get your friends and I will make sure there is room for you and all your guests in the palace. Tomorrow morning after breakfast we can discuss with the Council of Five about your plans. Thank you, for everything Avatar, I would still be in the dark without your help.”

Aang gave him a short bow before turning to Sokka and Toph, “Do you guys want to come with me or are you alright heading back to the palace with King Kuei?”

Sokka looked at the King, “Will you have meat at the palace?”

The King smiled and nodded, “Oh yes! It is almost Bosco’s dinner time so it should be ready when we get back if you are hungry.”

“I’m good to go back to the palace.”

Toph agreed, “I’d rather ride the train back with them, than get on Appa and fly more than I have to. No offense buddy.” 

Appa growled in response as Aang jumped on.

“We will be right back!!”

\- - - - - - - - - - 

Katara heard her name being called, it was so far away. They sounded upset, and they kept calling her name over and over.

She felt her body shift, was someone hugging her?

_Where was she?_

She needed to open her eyes so she could see what was happening. Why were her eyelids so heavy… _Have they always been this heavy?_

She was finally able to open one of her eyes, followed closely by the other eye.

She saw a flash of blue and orange, an arrow… Why did she recognize the arrow?

Her heart began to pound and her stomach knotted with anxiety. 

_Why am I freaking out?_

“Katara, please! Open your eyes!”

She heard his voice clearly, he sounded concerned. _Why was he concerned?_

Then it call came roaring back, like the rush of water breaking through a damn.

Dai Li.

The fight.

Zuko.

_Oh, spirits ZUKO!_

She sat up, too fast, “ZUKO!!!”

Aang smiled and wrapped his arms around her, “Oh Katara, you’re alright!! I was so worried. Zuko isn’t here Katara, he is gone. Jet said they took him… Don’t worry we will get him back I promise.”

She looked over at Jet, he has a black eye and a couple more bruises on his arms but he looked alright. Same with the other Freedom Fighters, everyone was ok, that was good.

Everyone except, Zuko. He was gone, they injected him with more of that awful stuff and dragged him away.

“Aang, they injected him with more poison, we have to go back to Lake Laogai and get him back!”

She watched Aang’s face turn from excited that she was ok, to concerned and apprehensive.

“Katara… There is no more Lake Laogai.. Its gone. We tried to bring King Kuei there to expose Long Feng and he eliminated the entire thing. Toph said it was completely submerged.”

Katara’s heart sunk into her stomach. 

“But… But if its gone then were will they take Zuko?”

Aang shook his head, his eyes drifting to the grass beneath his feet.

“I don’t know, but I promise… We will find him. Long Feng is in custody, we can start by talking to him as soon as we get to the palace. I promise Katara, it will be ok.”

She nodded, realizing how bad her head hurt she reached for her water to try to fix the injury. After she fixed herself she worked on Jet and his friends. 

“We don’t have time to waste, lets pack up Appa and get out of here as fast as possible. The longer they have Zuko the more damage they will do to him. I wont let them completely undo everything we have accomplished with him. I can’t see him… Hurt like that again… Please Aang. Promise me we will get him back safely.”

Aang looked determined, “I promise.”

They packed up Appa with what supplies they had that wasn’t destroyed in the fight and headed towards the heart of Ba Sing Se. 

She was going to get Zuko back, and then she was going to make the Dai Li pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those that left kudos and comments.
> 
> I love hearing from you :)


	5. Falling

# Falling

The first portion of the ride to the Earth Kingdom palace, was silent. Aang sat up front, steering Appa towards their destination. Jet and the rest of the Freedom Fighters seemed very uncomfortable with flying, they were practically holding onto the saddle for dear life. 

Katara was caught in her thoughts, sitting in the saddle across from the Freedom Fighters. She didn’t notice Jet watching her, intently. Finally, he made a clumsy, awkward movement over to sit next to her. She was taken back, they haven’t really spoke since she uncovered the memory of his girlfriend dying and him slaughtering an innocent woman and her small child. 

“Hey, Katara.”

“Hi, Jet.”

“Are you doing ok?”

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be doing ok?”

“Well, Lee was taken by the Dai Li and I know you are upset about it.”

“His name isn’t really Lee. Haven’t you been paying attention at all? Or are you so self absorbed that you don’t pay attention to anyone but yourself?”

As soon as the words left her lips, she regretted it.

He looked hurt, but Jet is a master at hiding his emotions. War does that to people, it makes them cold. It teaches people to bury their feelings and fight through the pain; ignore it, and it will go away. Katara has always been bad at that. She wore her pain on her sleeve, for everyone can see. When she felt something, she couldn’t stop herself from sharing her opinion. 

“I’m sorry, I have only ever known him as Lee… I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m sorry Jet, its not your fault. I am just angry, we were making progress and now I don’t even know if I’ll ever see him alive again.”

“I don’t think the Dai Li would put this much effort into finding someone, just to kill them.”

“Breathing… Doesn’t mean alive. If he is dead inside it wont matter that his heart beats. He will only be a shell of the person he was before.”

“I guess you’re right. I… Umm… I never said sorry, for everything. I don’t deserve your kindness after everything that happened between us. You have done so much for me without expecting anything in return. Smellerbee, Longshot and I just really appreciate it…”

For Jet, that was a pretty thought out apology. She knew he meant well, and she wanted to forgive him right now and be done with it. But the anger coursing through her veins wanted justice, not just for Zuko but for everyone who has suffered because of the war. For everyone who the Fire Lord hurt, knowing he has hurt so many people. She wanted to see him pay, and the Dai Li pay for the injustices they have done to the people of Ba Sing Se.

“Thank you for apologizing, Jet. It’s just a hard time for me to accept it and forgive you, right now. I know you are trying to be a better person and you fought along side me against the Dai Li earlier. I am thankful to you for that… But I don’t know if I can forgive you for everything else right now.”

“I understand…”

“Jet… Who was she?”

She saw his cold exterior crumble for a moment, the faint glisten of tears appeared in his eyes.

“She was… Amazing, she was just like me. Hurt by the Fire Nation and hell bent on ridding the world of their cruelty. I actually… She, umm… You reminded me of her when I met you. That’s why I was so entranced by you. Everything about you was exactly like her, your compassion, strength, determination, courage… All of it. I loved her, just like I loved you…”

Katara was taken back, Jet loved her?

“You don’t know me enough to love me, Jet… I have changed a lot since I met you in those woods all those months ago…”

“I know Katara, I am not blind. I see the way you look at the fire bender.”

Her eyes narrowed and she couldn’t help but glare at Jet.

“I do not look at him in anyway.”

“Whatever you say, Katara.”

“He isn’t even… Its hard to explain because… UGH! Why do you have to frustrate me, Jet? He isn’t even the guy who he actually is right now. Lee is not Zuko. Zuko is angry and mean, he will fight you to the death and he never gives up on anything. He chased us from the South Pole to the North Pole… He is infuriating! Lee… He is sad, quiet and helpful, he wants to make people smile and he likes to listen to what you say. Lee and Zuko are not the same person. I am trying to help him restore the parts he has lost, and help him heal. That’s it.”

Jet smirked, “They sound the same to me, just two different sides to one person. Everyone has two sides, Katara. You have two sides, all the things I said about you are true. But you are also, scared, and sad, angry, confused… It doesn’t make you two different people. Its all part of who you are, helping him heal isn’t going to change who he is. He is Lee as much as he is Zuko.”

“I am just trying to help him get back to normal, whatever that is.”

“I believe you, Katara.”

“Good.”

“Well if you ever need anything, I am always here for you.”

“I doubt I will need anything Jet, but thank you.”

They sat in silence, and Katara couldn’t help but think about what stupid Jet had to say.

\- - - - - - - - 

“WOAH…. What do you mean Sparky is gone?”

Toph was on her feet arms crossed. 

“The Dai Li attacked our camp and took him, they shoved this huge needle in his neck and he passed out. They took him and knocked all of us out. When I came too, Aang was shaking me awake.”

Sokka groaned, “I swear… Zuko is the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met. And I did warrior training with our village’s children, they needed to take potty breaks every 20 minutes! The only way we are going to find him is by talking to Long Feng. But I doubt he will say anything, the guys pretty pissed we ruined his whole, ‘take over the Earth Kingdom, there is no war in Ba Sing Se’ plan.”

Toph cracked her knuckles, “Oh, we will get him to talk! We’re getting our fire bender back!”

\- - - - - - - - -

Sokka, Katara and Toph made their way to the prison that Long Feng was being kept in. Aang wanted to speak to the Earth King about the situation and he wasn’t the biggest ‘Toph Interrogation Tactics’ fan, so he was happy to let them go alone. 

The Dai Li were stationed all over the palace and in the dungeon. Katara tried asking a couple of the agents they passed if they knew were Lee/Zuko went and no one had any idea what she was talking about. Katara figured even if they did know, there was no way they were going to tell her.

Long Feng was not restrained in his cell, he was considered a civilized, nobleman, so he was treated with ‘dignity’. Toph was going to change that.

The guard unlocked the door and Toph kicked it in, dramatically. She shifted her stance pushing the stone flooring in around him up to his neck.

“Alright LONG FENG, where is our friend!?”

Long Feng didn’t look shocked they were there. That was Katara’s first hint that he was behind Zuko’s abduction. 

“I don’t know where the Avatar is?”

Sokka cut in, “Not the Avatar! Our fire bending friend, associate, acquaintance, guy we know - sort of! Zuko/Lee.”

Long Feng raised an eyebrow, his emotions staying tightly concealed. 

“I must say, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Katara pulled out her water whip, holding it a couple inches from his face.

“Stop lying! I know you took him!! You are brainwashing him!! We recused him from your creepy, twisted torture chamber and YOUR Dai Li agents came today and took him back! Where is he?! I know you are using a new experimental drug on him to wipe out his memory!”

She was so sure Long Feng would react to her knowledge of the drug they were using, but he didn’t even flinch.

“I must apologize, I think you are tired and confused. I was with the King Kuei all day with the Avatar, I would have been unable to give an order to kidnap your friend. Also, if you have not noticed, I am no longer in charge of the Dai Li. I am just a lonely prisoner now. I wish I could be more help.”

Katara’s blood was boiling. Sokka could see her frustration growing, so he set a loving sibling hand on her shoulder. Hoping his touch would calm her down. He was happy she was a water bender and not a fire bender because if she was… There would be a lot of burnt people after coming across an angry Katara. 

Toph tightened the earth around him, which got a reaction from him. He winced in pain as the stone pinched him and made it hard to breathe.

“We can do this the easy way, or the Toph way – and trust me, you don’t want to do this the Toph way.”

“I… Promise, I don’t have… Your friend.”

Toph made it a little tighter, the color was beginning to drain from Long Feng’s face.

“Last chance to tell us or you wont have to worry about being a lonely prisoner anymore!”

He stayed neutral and refused to say anything else. 

Finally Toph released him and he collapsed on the floor. She looked down at him and smirked.

“We will see you tomorrow! Make sure you really think about if you haven’t seen our friend. I wont be as patient next time!”

As the three left the cell, Katara glanced back to see him smirking in the darkness.

Her heart drops.

She knew it.

He had Zuko.

\- - - - - - - - - - -

A week passes, and Katara visits Long Feng every day. Sometimes she brings Toph or Sokka and sometimes she goes alone. She even brought Jet one time, but he tried to take it too far, so she didn’t bring him again. 

Jet was always so extreme.

Long Feng didn’t budge, he claims he has no idea who Lee/Zuko is and has no affiliation with that person. 

She knows he is lying but she can’t do anything about it. Without Lake Laogai, she doesn’t even know where to begin looking for him. Ba Sing Se is the largest kingdom in the world, she could spend her entire life looking and not even get halfway through it. 

They were given letters that apparently, Long Feng had been hiding from them. They make some tough decisions but the decide to split up again.

Sokka was going to go with Aang and have Appa drop him off to see their dad. She knew he wanted and needed to see their dad badly, and it would be good for him to spend time with the Water Tribe warriors. 

Katara wasn’t opposed to staying in the city, she was going to help The Council of Five with their plans for the invasion. 

Aang was taking Appa and going to see a Guru about mastering the Avatar State. He was really excited, if he was able to truly master the Avatar State, then the invasion plan would have almost a guarantee success. 

Toph was going to go and visit her mother, who was staying in the city. 

That evening Sokka and Aang loaded up onto Appa, Katara couldn’t help but feel a sting of jealousy that Sokka was able to go spend time with their dad. She knew her place was staying here, but it didn’t stop the feelings. 

Sokka hugged her tight, “Tell dad I love him.”

“Of course sis.”

Aang went in for the hug as well, “We will be back in a week. I’ll miss you, Katara.”

They hugged tight before pulling Toph in, she wasn’t the hugging type. 

“I’ll miss you guy.”

The Earth King was present to wish them all goodbye. As he watched them get ready to leave a messenger came up with a message. 

“Your Majesty, there is a group of female warriors here to see you, I believe they said they were the Kyoshi Warriors. What would you like me to do?”

Sokka perked up, “Suki is here! That’s great! They are talented warriors, they will help protect you until we get back!”

The King nodded, “Tell them to meet me in the throne room and I will be there soon.”

After the hugs and goodbyes the boys loaded onto Appa and with a ‘yip yip’. They were gone. 

\- - - - - - - - - - 

The next morning Toph left to go see her mom, she was supposed to be back in a couple of days. 

Katara decided to wander around the palace, she wanted to keep herself distracted before the war meeting tomorrow. The more time she had alone, the more her brain wondered to Zuko… She was so worried about him and she asked the spirits to please, keep him safe. 

A servant approached her as she entered a fancy room, full of tables and expensive looking china. 

“Good day, my lady, are you here for some tea?”

Katara smiled, “Tea would be nice, what types do you have?”

“We have all sorts of blends, is there a particular tea you enjoy?”

“No, I am pretty open to whatever you recommend.”

“As you wish, I will fetch you some of the newest blend that comes from a small tea shop right here in the upper ring! The man, Mushi, is a genius when it comes to tea!”

Katara smiled, “I would love to try it.”

She sat down at one of the tables, the room was filled with natural light that came in through the many windows positioned around the outer wall. There was greenery everywhere and servants were tending to the watering and pruning while a few nobles drank tea. It was a beautiful space. Calm and quiet.

The servant returned with her tea, Katara has never been a tea person but after traveling to so many new places she was accustomed to having tea time. Many conversations were had over tea, and she was beginning to enjoy the different tastes each nation had.

This blend was amazing, sweet and tangy but smooth and subtle. She enjoyed it so much she drank the entire pot. The man seemed pleased that she enjoyed it. 

“I am so happy you enjoyed the blend.”

“You said it was from a tea shop here, in the Upper Ring?”

“Yes, here, let me go fetch some parchment and I will write down the name and address. They just opened, you should try and visit.”

Katara decided she would stop on her way back from the war meeting tomorrow.

\- - - - - - - - - -

The war meeting was not as exciting as she thought it would be. Most of the older male generals did not take her suggestion’s seriously. Unlike the the Norther Water Tribe, they let her share her input and thanked her for her wisdom. But she could tell they were just being polite. 

The meeting was long and took up most of the early afternoon. Katara was eager to go see Suki and talk to her about getting help with Long Feng, and dismantling the Dai Li. She wanted to get Suki’s input, she had already exhausted most of her other options. She was starting to feel helpless, she hated feeling like that.

After the meeting Katara agreed to take a scroll to the Earth King after she stopped for her tea. Following the address on the parchment, she arrived at a small, but well put together tea shop. It was busy, there were two servers running around taking orders and delivering a variety of teas and pastries. 

Katara saw an empty table and sat down, she heard a familiar laugh and looked around to see where it was coming from. In the corner she saw him, Zuko’s uncle, laughing with a man as he poured him more tea. 

Her heart stopped.

She needed to speak to him right away. 

Leaving her seat she made her way over to the older man. Knowing he was probably going by an alias she wanted to be careful and protect his identity. She wasn’t sure if he would recognize her, they had many encounters before, but it had been a while. She recognized his laugh from Zuko’s memory on the beach.

“Excuse me sir, is this your wonderful tea shop?”

He turned to her, his golden brown eyes sparkled, “Why, yes it is dear!”

“I am thinking of opening my own tea shop in the middle ring, would you be willing to show me the back room and your system for keeping the tea organized?”

“Of course, anything for a young entrepreneur. Follow me.”

Once they were in the back, he looked around to make sure they were alone before turning and smiling at Katara. 

“What brings the beautiful water bending friend of the Avatar to my humble tea shop?”

“I am here because of Zuko.”

She saw the color drain from his face, his smiling eyes flickered into a panic as his hand reached out and pulled her deeper into the back room as his lowered his voice. 

“Do you know where my nephew is?”

“Not exactly, he was taken by the Dai Li.”

“Yes dear, I am aware, I have been searching for him for weeks. No one has seem or heard from him. Its like he disappeared off the face of the earth.”

“We found him, in the Dai Li’s secret hideout under Lake Laogai. He was with us for a couple of days before the Dai Li came back and took him again. They want to use him for something and I am not sure what, but I have been looking everywhere for him. The leader of the Dai Li, Long Feng, has been apprehended, but he wont talk. The Kyoshi warriors just got to the city so I am going to talk to their leader, Suki, and see if she can help me. I swear, I have looked everywhere for him, I am so worried about him…”

Her heart was pounding, her eyes stinging with tears. She didn’t realize how fast she started talking and how quickly she became emotional. The older fire bender reached out and brought her in for a hug. It took her by surprise but he was so warm and smelled like spicy tea, it was very comforting. She leaned into the hug, accepting his comfort before pulling away and wiping her tears. 

“Its ok dear, I must say, I didn’t know you and my nephew were that close. I am happy to see you care so much for his safety.”

Katara couldn’t help but blush. 

“He… Um.. I have been helping him restore his memories, I’m just trying to help him remember. We spent a lot of time together, he helped me with dinner and cleaning up. No one else in camp helps that much so its been nice having him around.”

Iroh smiled, “That doesn’t sound like my nephew, he hasn’t been that helpful in the last couple of years.”

“I know, but he seems different, probably because of the brainwashing.”

“I see. How did he look when you found him?”

Katara looked down, she didn’t want to worry him, but she didn’t think it would be right to lie to him.

“He didn’t… Look good… They hurt him…”

She looked up at Iroh and his eyes were literally burning with fire, his fist clenched. After a few controlled breathing she saw the fire dim a bit. 

“I see.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Oh, dear, it is not your fault. I am so happy you found me. I have been so worried and now at least I have some inkling of information that I can try to use to find him. I would like to stay in touch with you… Umm.. I don’t seem to recall your name.”

“Katara.”

“Iroh, well Mushi here, but you can call me Uncle.”

She smiled, “He loves you very much Uncle.”

“I love him so much more Katara. I will do anything I need to in order to get him back.”

“Good, me too.”

They smiled and she tightened her grip on the scroll she held. 

“I must deliver this to the Earth King, can I come back this afternoon and we can talk more?”

“Of course, we close at sundown, why don’t you come around then and we can speak freely in private.”

“Sounds great, I will see you then.”

\- - - - - - - - - -

She wouldn’t make it to her tea date. 

A day passed

The Kyoshi Warriors were not who they said they were.

Katara was taken by Azula and thrown in the catacombs, alone.

Somewhere down the road out of the city, Toph discovered that all things are connected, and metal is only an extension of earth. She used this to break out of her imprisonment and head back to Ba Sing Se.

The Avatar was told to let go, and he couldn’t. He had to go save Katara, so he left the Guru. Risking the fate of the world for a woman he loved.

Sokka was finally a man in his father’s eyes, he was excited to make him proud. When Appa landed in camp, he had to show his dad he was a man by leaving with Aang. Hugging his father goodbye, for the second time, was one of the hardest thing he has ever had to do.

On the way into the city they stumbled upon a feisty earth bender on a fast track to their destination. They picked her up, she was somewhat grateful. She hated flying. 

Arriving at the house they saw Jet standing outside. He seemed frantic.

“Jet! Where is Katara?”

Aang jumped down from Appa as the Freedom Fighter ran towards them. 

“She had been gone all night! She never came home. Last thing I heard she was going to the war meeting with The Council of Five and the Earth King! I haven’t heard from her and they wont let me talk to the Earth King! Its ostrich horse shit!”

“I know Jet, don’t worry, we will find her. Just stay at the house with our stuff and we will go to the palace and see whats going on.”

Just as Aang was going to turn back to his friends who were sliding down Appa, he saw Jet run past him.

“FIRE BENDER!!!”

Sokka and Aang’s head about snapped off their neck turning to see what Jet was screaming about. They saw an old man standing there, he wore elegant Earth Kingdom clothing. His hands were in the air in front of him in a peaceful gesture. 

“I come in peace! I am here to see if Katara is alright.”

Jet was standing in front of him with his swords pointed at the man’s throat. 

Toph landed on the ground and smiled, “Hey, I know him! Good to see you again.”

Aang and Sokka looked confused, “You know him?”

“Yeah we shared some tea together and he gave me some great advice. Jet, leave him alone!”

She moved the earth under Jet, pushing him back away from Iroh. 

“He is a fire bender! I know it, he is the one I saw heating his tea!”

That’s when it clicked for Sokka. 

“Oh, you’re Zuko’s uncle!”

Aang smiled, “Oh yeah! Hi again!”

Iroh gave a small bow.

“It is good to see you all again, I was supposed to meet with Katara last night at sunset at my tea shop, but she never showed. I grew worried, so I wanted to come check on her.”

Sokka’s eyes narrowed, “How do you know where we live?”

Iroh chuckled, “Everyone in the Upper Ring knows where the Avatar is staying, young man.”

“Sokka, I am Katara’s brother.”

“Nice to see you again, Sokka. I was just worried, but now that I see you all here without Katara I am going to assume something happened to her?”

Aang nodded, “I had a vision that she was taken prisoner.”

“I fear you might be correct. How can I help?”

Sokka tapped his chin, “Alright, I say we split up. Aang… You, the old man, and Jet go look for Katara. Toph and I will go and speak to the Earth King. Jet, have Smellerbee and Longshot stay here with our stuff. I am not letting someone steal everything again!” 

Toph crossed her arms, “They wont even know where to start looking for Katara, she could be anywhere. Did you see anything in your vision that might give us a clue to where she is being held?”

Aang closed his eyes, thinking back to what he saw.

“No… But we will find someone who does. I bet someone from the Dai Li would know.”

Toph cracked her knuckles. “Let me help you with that before we split up. I don’t think you have the guts to get the information.”

Aang frowned, but shrugged – she was probably right.

It didn’t take long for Toph to single out an agent and get him to squeal. 

“They have the water bender in the crystal catacombs under the palace. The Fire Nation Princess is here, she is the one giving the orders.”

Iroh spoke next, “The Fire Nation Princess? Azula… Do they have the Fire Nation Prince with her? Do you know where they might be keeping Prince Zuko?”

The Dai Li agent shook his head. 

“I have never heard of anyone by that name.”

Toph let out a sigh, “I’m sorry Uncle but he is telling the truth.”

Iroh looked devastated but knew that his first priority right now was finding Katara. 

The Gaang went over the plan one more time before splitting up. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - 

Katara was frustrated, banging against the walls and kicking the crystals. 

“LET ME OUT!!!!”

No one was coming.

No one could hear her. 

She finally stopped pacing and kicking things and slumped onto the floor, he knees pulled up to her chest tight. She closed her eyes trying to calm her mind. 

Her thoughts drifted to small Zuko’s cloudy eyes as he laid on the floor after being shot by his sister with lightning. She saw the tears fall down his cheeks and onto the floor. He was utterly alone. 

Her eyes popped open, she didn’t want him to be alone. 

She didn’t want to be alone. 

She needed to escape. 

She had to save Zuko. 

Realizing how desperate she sounded her eyes filled with tears, she knew no matter what she wanted she was stuck. Azula had her trapped in here, with her cold, evil eyes. No trace of the sweet girl who loved her brother. The small child who trusted him to be there for her. 

She was her father’s daughter, and she needed to go down.

Before she let her thought’s get too dark she felt the ground rumble and part of the cavern wall exploded. Jumping up, ready to fight, her heart leaped into her throat when she saw Aang and Iroh come out of the tunnel. 

“AANG!!!!!”

She screamed and ran towards him, they embraced and she let her tears finally escape her eyes. She was so happy to see him, looking past him she saw Iroh and Jet.

“Jet? Uncle! You are here too? How did you find Aang?”

He chuckled, “I went to the home you are staying at, and found him.”

She looked at Aang, confused.

“How did you know I was in trouble?”

“I saw a vision when I was with the Guru, I knew I had to come and save you.”

“Thank you, Aang. Thank you Uncle.”

Jet coughed and frowned at her.

“Thank you too, Jet.”

She smirked, he smiled back.

Aang took her hand, “We have to get out of here, quick. Azula could show up at any moment.”

They created a tunnel and moved into a larger room. It had a large water source, Katara’s eyes lit up. 

Let Azula show up, she was ready now.

\- - - - - -- - - - 

Sokka and Toph didn’t last long against Azula and her two friends. Once the Earth King’s life was at risk they had no choice but to surrender. 

Good thing they didn’t know about Toph’s new ability. 

Once the coast was clear she bent the metal door, crushing it off the hinges. 

They were free. 

The needed to get Appa, protect the Earth King and find their friends. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

“Oh, Uncle. I didn’t expect to see you here. What a pleasant surprise!”

Katara, Aang, Jet and Iroh all looked above them to see Azula standing on a ledge, her arms crossed, wearing a Dai Li outfit. 

It clicked for Katara.

She must have Zuko.

“Where is he, Azula!?”

Katara could see the slight shift of confusion enter her otherwise sharp and focused eyes. Katara couldn’t help but see the small girl from Zuko’s memories inside the now hard and ruthless Azula that stood above them.

She jumped down, gracefully, with both her arms extended ready to attack.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Have you gone mad?”

Katara frowned and summoned water from the underground river, she formed ice daggers and readied them for attack. 

“Where is Zuko!?”

She saw it that time, Azula’s confusion. Covered up once again, her brow furrowed as she looked over at her uncle.

“What is this water peasant talking about? Aren’t you Zuzu’s keeper now?”

Iroh was also in a fighting stance, he didn’t slack, not even for a moment. 

“He was taken by the Dai Li.”

Azula snapped her fingers and Dai Li poured out of every hidden part of the underground cavern. 

“That’s not possible now uncle, because I am in control of the Dai Li.”

Katara realized in that moment, they were out numbered. Taking on Azula alone was a huge task, now she was being backed up by almost the entire Dai Li army. Her and Aang exchanged nervous glances but no one made a move. Katara wasn’t sure what to say now, lucky for her Iroh spoke.

“Well my niece, it seems you are not the one in control, your brother was definitely taken by the Dai Li, about a week ago.”

Azula put her arms down and snapped her fingers as one of the Dai Li agents stepped forward, a single blue flame appeared on her finger index finger. 

“Have you any knowledge of what they could be talking about?”

“No, your Highness.”

“Find out.”

He left quickly. 

Azula turned her attention back to the four enemies in front of her. 

“Just because my idiot brother is missing doesn’t mean this isn’t happening. My father doesn’t care about the failure, Zuzu, but he does want you dead.” She smirked and pointed her finger’s at Aang. “So if we are done wasting time, I will gladly let you strike first.”

Katara didn’t need to be told to strike first, her water was shooting at Azula before she even heard the last word. 

Everything erupted into chaos. 

Iroh was taking on the Dai Li, he was a monster in a fight, or better yet… A dragon. 

Jet was using all the anger he had for the Dai Li and fighting with purpose. Each attack was calculated and intentional. He was holding his own against the attacking agents.

Aang and Azula were wrapped in an intense one on one, flipping through the air and doing a deadly dance through the catacombs. Azula moved like an air bender, but had the ferocity of a fire bender. 

Katara tried to help Aang when she could but the Dai Li were overwhelming. She had to give all her effort and focus on the earth benders. 

The fight seemed to go on forever. 

Katara was losing strength. Looking over at Azula she was astonished to see the young girl barley seemed to have broken a sweat. Her resilience was astounding, she was a perfecting fighting machine.

_Listen Zuzu, I know she left you, but she also left me…_

She shook her head, those were not her memories to fall back on. Azula is who she is now, it doesn’t matter who she used to be.

Katara needed to stay focused. 

Blue fire was being shot through the cavern. Aang was getting exhausted, he glanced over at Katara and saw her stamina failing as well. He glanced at Iroh and Jet, both were holding their own and fighting for the future of the world. Iroh was helping protect Jet while the Dai Li attacked relentlessly.

Aang felt the pain of guilt, he chose Katara instead of choosing the world. 

Jet let go of his anger for the Fire Nation to fight along side Iroh, for the better of the world. 

Katara let go of everything she had at home, for the better of the world. 

Iroh let go of his family, and is fighting his niece, for the better of the world. 

_Selfish_

Aang had been selfish once, and it caused 100 years of pain and suffering. He couldn’t do that again, even if it mean letting go of Katara. 

He used all his strength to blow Azula back and lock one of her arms down with earth bending. The move only bought him a minute, which is all he needed to cocoon himself in crystal and close his eyes.

She broke through her restraint easy, “Hiding from me Avatar? It wont work.”

Her hand’s began to crackle, electricity coursing through her body. 

Iroh saw what was happening and moved with incredible speed to try and re direct the strike his deadly niece was going to unleash onto the Avatar. 

Iroh was too slow, but to his surprise orange flames shot in front of Azula pushing her back causing her to release her lighting into the air. Frustrated she turned to see Long Feng and a handful of Dai Li agents standing in front of one of the tunnels. 

Her eyes narrowed as she saw Zuko standing with him.

Katara turned and saw Zuko too. 

“ZUKO!!”

He didn’t even flinch.

“Lee!!!”

Again, not even a movement. 

_Oh no…_

“Well, well… Long Feng, I see you found my dear brother. Zuzu, what are you doing associating yourself with a weakling like him? Have you really stooped that low?”

He didn’t acknowledge she was speaking to her. 

Azula’s eyes narrowed, “I am speaking to you dum-dum.”

He didn’t even look at her. 

Katara felt a cold chill on the back of her neck.

His eyes, they were solid black. He didn’t even think he was Lee from Ba Sing Se… He was gone. 

She saw Iroh step forward, everything seemed frozen for just a moment. The Dai Li had taken a step back. As if to watch Long Feng and Azula interact and see who would be victorious and whoever won the Dai Li would follow them. 

“Prince Zuko? Its me, Uncle. Can you hear me?”

Nothing.

Iroh looked enraged, his fists engulfing in flames as he waited to see what would happen next. Katara could see his focus on Zuko, he was not going to leave here without him. 

Jet watched everyone, taking this moment to catch his breath and for once… He didn’t say anything.

Azula straightened her back and flipped back her bangs, “You think you are clever Long Feng? What was the point of all of this? My brother is a pathetic fire bender, and he is obviously even more stupid then I originally thought to allow himself to be brainwashed by you. Why put in all this effort?”

Long Feng smirked, “Isn’t obvious Princess? You seem to know all the answers, but I will gladly include you on my little plan. I will use him to kill you, capture the Avatar, and rule the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. I will eliminate the already dwindling Water Tribe people and gain complete control.” 

Azula cackled, “You are probably even more of a dum-dum then Zuzu! How is he going to help you accomplish any of that?”

“He is the Prince of the Fire Nation, he has Sozin’s blood coursing through his veins. He is hire to the Fire Nation, he is a threat to the Avatar, he is much more powerful then you allow yourself to believe. He is resilient and I will destroy you with him. Could you possibly kill your own brother?”

Azula drew blue flames and smirked, “You underestimate our family.”

Long Feng whispered something to Zuko and he attacked. 

Azula and Zuko were intertwined in a battle, he was faster and more ruthless then Katara could have imagined him to be. He didn’t fight like the fire bender she saw in the North Pole, he was more ruthless than that. His strikes were aimed to hurt Azula, not just scare her. He was putting his all into his fight. Without his humanity and over thinking holding him back, he was an exceptional fighter. 

Azula seemed caught off guard, for once.

She moved faster still, but Katara could tell she was holding back. Maybe she didn’t hate her brother as much as she pretended. Especially when he father wasn’t here to push her into being cruel to him.

Zuko landed a hit.

Azula fell, collecting herself quickly, she looked angry.

“You idiot, Zuzu!! How dare you!! Know your place!!”

Before she could strike back, Aang began to rise out of his cocoon. His tattoos glowing, he was in the Avatar State. Azula’s attention was distracted for a moment by the glowing Avatar.

Long Feng watched him rise and then looked at Zuko who was going to attack Azula again. He screamed something to him and Zuko’s attention went to Aang. 

Katara knew he was going to attack Aang. She had to do something, pulling as much strength as she could, she summoned a wave that washed Zuko and Azula off of their feet and into a wall. She saw them begin to rise again, his uncle was trying to rush to Zuko’s side. He was trying to get to him before Azula decided to strike. 

Dai Li cut him off, their fight commenced. His anger fueling larger fire blasts and fire kicks. He was determined to save Zuko, or die trying.

Aang began to use the Avatar state to attack the Dai Li. The agents used their impressive bending to focus all their energies on The Avatar. They were no match, but they tired to hold their own. 

Azula stood, her eyes narrowing at Zuko as his attention was on Aang, his last order’s were to capture Aang. He wasn’t concerned with Azula anymore. 

He should have been.

She was furious.

Using her blue flames she fired a couple of aggressive but controlled strikes towards Zuko. One burnt his arm, the other his leg and the finally his side. None of them meant to kill, Azula made sure of it. But she was also sure he would block or dodge them. 

He didn’t.

To her complete surprise, the smell of burning flesh hit her nose. His body shook, but he didn’t fall. He didn’t make any noise his eyes not leaving Aang. 

He didn’t acknowledge Azula, or his injuries. 

He began running towards Aang, leaving a trail of blood with every step he took. 

Long Feng watched in horror as Aang moved through his agents, freezing, burying and knocking them unconscious. Long Feng’s eyes narrowed on Katara. 

She was the one who messed up his plan. 

The stupid girl who wanted to save the Fire Prince so badly, the girl who took him away in the first place. Now she had interfered with him killing Azula and capturing Aang. He needed The Avatar alive so he could brain wash him like he did to Zuko. With both of them under his control he would be unstoppable.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her push agents out of her way, freeze his men to the walls as she tries to get to the Aang. He saw Zuko headed towards Aang. He needs to take out the water bender so the fire bender could do his job. The plan had come so far, and it was working out better than he could have imagined. He couldn’t allow Katara to ruin it.

Long Feng had one of the Dai Li by his side summon few medium sized boulders. He threw them at Katara. She didn’t see them coming and they hit her in the back. She screamed out in pain and fell to the ground.

Zuko stopped.

He turns towards her as Long Feng had them prepare another boulder, this one larger and more jagged, he was planning on crushing her. She was trembling on the ground, blood from her wound seeping through the back of her tunic. She wasn’t able to push herself up, her head was spinning.

Zuko blinked, his head is screaming, blood began dripping from his ears and nose. He see’s Long Feng, he knows he is going to kill Katara. Zuko’s entire body is screaming that he must go to Aang, he must capture the Avatar. But something deep inside him needs him to save Katara, he can’t let her die.

He changes course, and heads towards Katara. Shooting out a few blasts of fire, Long Feng stops in his path. The two Dai Li agents next to him turn to the fire bender. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

Katara cracks open her eyes, her vision is still swimming. She knew she was hit, she could fell the push and pull of her blood as it pooled out of an open wound on her back. 

She could see Long Feng, she could see the boulder coming her way. 

She needed to stop it.

She needed to help Aang, Zuko… Everyone who was fighting by her side. 

But she couldn’t rise.

Her vision cleared in time to see orange flames dance across the floor at Long Feng. Her eyes opened all the way as she tried to sit up and get a better look. 

Zuko was there, standing in between her and Long Feng. He was bleeding, burned, his face covered in blood. Long Feng was yelling at him, words she didn’t understand. Zuko didn’t move. He summoned more flames as he prepared to kill Long Feng. 

He released the blast and she saw Long Feng’s Dai Li try to block his attack, releasing the boulder as it hit the floor. Zuko charged forward and shot multiple fire blasts at the Dai Li next to Long Feng, they fell back using the earth to shield them from the flames. Zuko spun on the floor creating a ring of flames and swept Long Feng off his feet.

Zuko was now standing above him, he ignited another blast.

This one burned his enemy, the flesh melted off Long Feng’s face. Katara could hear the pained screams until they whimpered and disappeared. All that was left was the broken and charged bones of her enemy. The man who was going to kill her.

She saw Zuko standing over him, the anger and hate displayed by the scowl on his face. He was covered in blood and his eyes were completely black. 

He was utterly terrifying.

The two agents that were assisting Long Feng just a minute ago seemed just as terrified and they retreated away from the angry fire bender. 

She stood slowly and made her way closer to him, before she could reach out and touch him, her head snapped up when she saw a flash of electricity as the Avatar was struck. 

Katara screamed.

Jet and Iroh moved towards them, the amount of damage Aang did in the Avatar state was extensive. His focus had been on the Dai Li, he must have forgot all about the Fire Nation Princess lurking in the corner. 

She struck him with her deadly lightning, and he was falling. 

Katara pulled all the water she could and ran past Zuko, towards Aang. She used the wave she created to push her forward with speed. She caught Aang right before he hit the ground. Azula smirked and went to strike again, but Jet knocked into her. He looked back at Katara and Aang.

“GO!!!! Get him out of here!!”

Azula looked furious, she glanced past Jet, her eye’s meeting Zuko. He didn’t even look at her, but she could see the damage she had done to his body. Her anger swelled as she turned her eyes back to Jet. 

She summoned flames and unleashed her frustration onto the boy. He used his hooked blades to try and hold her off. They didn’t have very long to escape. Jet was no match for Azula. 

Katara looked towards Iroh who was trying to touch Zuko, but he wasn’t sure where to put his hands. 

“Prince Zuko, we have to go, please come with me…”

Zuko didn’t even look at him, Iroh finally put his hand on his shoulder, only to pull it back covered in blood. 

Katara’s eyes were swelled with tears as she made her way to the waterfall, carrying Aang in her arms. What was left of the Dai Li were closing in on them. Clearly backing up Azula now that Long Feng was dead. They were hesitant to get too close to Zuko after watching him burn their leader alive.

Iroh pulled Zuko along with them. Katara used her bending as she pushed the four of them up the waterfall until they landed on solid ground. Thank the spirits for Toph, the young girl had felt the group battling down below and her. Sokka and Appa were there with the Earth King and Freedom Fighters.

“Where is Jet?!”

Smellerbee asked with a slight panic in her voice.

Katara looked at her and shook her head, “He stayed, so we could escape.”

Smellerbee jumped off Appa, “Longshot and I can’t leave him. We will stay to help and find you guys later.”

Katara nodded and looked down at Aang, he was so pale and his breathing was almost non existent. It might not even be happening, but she had to get him on Appa and try to heal him.

Iroh pulled Zuko onto the saddle. Katara looked at him for a brief second before turning all her attention to Aang. Sokka was steering Appa as they flew into the air. 

Once they were high enough Katara pulled out her Spirit water and pushed it deep into his lightning wound. His tattoos flashed and his eyes cracked open. Katara felt tears flowing freely from her eyes again as they poured down her face. Aang smiled at her before closing his eyes again. 

She hugged him tight and let him lay back, his chest rising and falling. 

He was alive. 

She turned her attention to Zuko. His clothing was burnt, she could see the massive burns on his right arm, leg and side. Azula had just burnt her brother, in cold blood, more scars for his already abused body. 

She could see the blood dried in his ears and smeared on his face. She wasn’t sure if he would survive this. 

“Zuko…”

He didn’t look at her.

“Zuko, I am going to try to heal you.. Is that ok?”

She looked at Iroh who had tears in his eyes, she knew he wanted to hug his nephew so badly but the boy was burnt, and unresponsive. 

Her hands began to glow and she moved towards him slowly. His eyes shot over to her hand as the terror set in. He began to breath heavily and his eyes went wide staring at her hand. 

“I just want to help Zuko, I promise… I am not going to hurt you. You are bleeding, if I don’t heal you then you will die.”

His eyes met her’s, and she saw a tiny sliver of gold outline the black pupil. It was an extremely small amount of gold, but it was hope. He recognized her, like he did in the cavern. He stopped following his order to come and save her. He killed Long Feng to prevent him from hurting her. 

He saved her life.

She had to save his.

“Please Zuko… Let me help you…”

He nodded slowly, and she moved closer bringing her hand to his arm first. The burnt flesh made her stomach turn. Aang’s lightning strike was terrible, but there was something sinister about human flesh that was melted into a burn. She healed his shoulder and then moved closer so she could do his side. He didn’t make a noise while she was healing him, he allowed her to try and help him.

Once she was done with his burns she looked at his face. Unsure where the blood was coming from she didn’t want to do too much until she had an idea of what was going on with him internally.

Black spots danced in her vision, had been running on pure adrenaline. The energy she used from fighting and healing were too much, she felt herself slipping away. Laying down in the saddle she closed her eyes. 

The last thing she saw was Iroh pulling Zuko close to him and sobbing into his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed :) 
> 
> I love reading your comments, thank you to everyone who left me one for the last couple of chapters. 
> 
> <3


	6. Hospitality

# Hospitality

Appa moves through the rain, full speed, until they arrived at the shoreline. Sokka didn’t know where else to go. Aang had been dying in Katara’s arms only moments ago and they had two fire benders with them, there wasn’t any ideal places for them to hide. Katara told Sokka that Aang needed somewhere safe and dry to rest so she could work on healing his lightning wound. He was alive, but the damage Azula did to him was extensive. No one was even sure if he would wake up again.

Katara was still sleeping in Appa’s saddle, she was exhausted from the battle and all the healing she had to do, not just on Aang, but Zuko as well. The Fire Nation Prince was in terrible shape, Sokka wasn’t sure if he would live either.

Sokka felt a sting of guilt in his heart for leaving Jet and the Freedom Fighters behind. He knew Jet was a good fighter, but he was no match for Azula. All he could do was hope that she spared his life. 

The coast came to view through the rain, Sokka’s heart began to beat faster the closer they got. 

How was he going to explain to his dad that the Dragon of the West and Prince of the Fire Nation were with them?

He didn’t even know how to explain it to himself.

Glancing behind him he saw Iroh holding Zuko’s upper body in his arms, the boy was covered in blood still, his eyes vacant. He looked terrible, and frightening. Was he still Lee from Ba Sing Se? He didn’t look like the smiling, helpful, quiet boy he saw last, back at camp. Sokka was sure he dad wasn’t going to be happy brining a blood covered fire bender into his camp. 

But they had no choice.

Sokka didn’t know where else to go.

Bringing the bison down, he landed on the sandy beach, the rain storm still pouring out water. Everyone and everything was soaked. The campsite was quiet in comparison to the commotion that was happening when Sokka was here last. All the men must be in their tents, avoiding being drenched by the storm.

Sokka slid off the bison just as Bato strolled out of largest tent in the center of camp, his dad’s tent.

“Sokka? What are you…”

Before he could finish, Bato saw Katara slide off the saddle with Aang in her arms. Bato met Aang once, and he looked a lot different then he did right now. Very much alive, where right now… He did not look so alive.

“Hakoda!!” Bato yelled into the tent. Shortly after, Hakoda lifted the tent flap and ran through the opening when he saw Katara. He rushed to her side, kneeling down he looked at the Avatar in her arms. 

“Katara! What happened!?” Her eyes were filled with tears, she had dark circles under her eyes as she tried to find the words to describe what happened in the cavern.

“H-He… He was shot w-w-with lightning, he is alive. Barely. I need a place to put him, warm. P-please dad….”

Hakoda wrapped his arms around his daughter, hugging Aang in between them. Lifting himself to his feet he guided her to the tent he emerged from, keeping two hands firmly on her shoulders. They laid Aang in the bed. Katara summoned her healing water to begin working on the wound on his back again, holding him up gently as she pressed her hand into his back. The wound was deep and caused massive amounts damage, there was only so much Katara would be able to heal at one time.

What Aang needed most, was rest.

She laid him down gently when she heard screaming from outside the tent, her dad jumped up and ran out of the tent. Katara frowned wondering…

_Zuko._

She laid Aang down and touched his forehead before she stood and ran out of the tent after her dad.

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

Bato saw Iroh and Zuko first, Sokka had no time to explain the situation before Bato was in Appa’s saddle, shoving Zuko off and into the sand. Iroh yelled out, making the mistake of grabbing Bato’s arm trying to stop him from hurting his nephew. 

Bato was a strong Water Tribe warrior, he swung his leg up and tried to strike Iroh in the head. Iroh was also a skilled warrior, using his unoccupied hand, he caught Bato’s incoming attack.

“ENOUGH!” Iroh yelled at Bato, just before the Water Tribe man pulled his arm away from the fire bender who released his grip immediately.

More Water Tribe men joined the commotion, two of them were kneeling on Zuko’s back, pulling his arms behind him. 

“GET THE CHAINS!” One of them yelled.

Sokka, stood frozen. King Kuei was still sitting in the saddle with his bear, trying to stay out of the fighting men’s way. Being in sand was not Toph’s strength at all, but she was aware enough to know that they were causing Zuko pain.

“STOP IT!!” She yelled, pounding her fists into one of the Water Tribe man’s side. He shoved her off with no trouble. The assault on Toph shook Sokka from his daze. 

“Don’t touch her!!” He rushed forward and pulled Toph behind him as the men began to bind Zuko’s arms behind his back with the chains provided.

Iroh jumped down from the saddle with Bato close behind him. 

“Get off my nephew! He is not resisting you!”

Iroh went to grab one of the men when Bato stepped in his way, again. The Water Tribe warrior shifted into a fighting stance. Iroh tried to look past him at his nephew being shoved face first into the sand. 

“I am not here to fight you, we were helping the Avatar. We had to leav-“

Hakoda appeared out of the tent, “What is going on here?!”

The two men who were restraining Zuko pulled the fire bender to his knees, his head dropping, lifeless eyes staring at the ground. 

“They are fire benders sir, we are trying to secure them before have a chance to attack!”

Hakoda looked at Zuko and then at Iroh, shifting his attention to the man who was older and unbound. 

“Who are you and why are you with my children, in our camp?”

Iroh brought his hands together and gave a small bow, to show respect for Chief Hakoda. 

“I am retired General Iroh, that is my nephew Prince Zuko, we are accompanying the Avat-“

Again he was cut off. 

“General? Prince? Is this some kind of sick joke, Sokka? I know your sense of humor is something that is brought to question sometimes, but I think this it too far.”

Sokka stepped forward shaking his head, “its not a joke dad. This is The Dragon of the West and Prince Zuko, son of the Fire Lord. They helped us escape from Ba Sing Se.

The men holding Zuko on his knees, tensed as they backed up as much as they could while still holding a tight grip. Zuko still didn’t move, his head hanging towards the ground. The wounds Katara had barely healed were splitting open, blood spotting onto the sand below. 

“Chief Hakoda, my nephew and I do not come with any hostility, we are simply trying to find refuge after making ourselves traitors against the Fire Nation in order to save the Avatar and his friends. I trust if you give us a chance we will-“

Again, Iroh was cut off as Katara stormed out of the tent. 

“Dad! What are you doing?! He is injured, you cant treat him like that!”

She tried to pull the arm of one of the men who was holding Zuko, she tugged on his arm, trying to drag him away from the Fire Prince. The man frowned at her and pushed her back, she was tired and caught off guard from the sudden push. She stumbled backwards and fell down into the sand.

“Ow stop!” Her voice cut through the rain just before hitting the ground.

The second she hit the sand, Zuko’s head snapped up. His eyes shifted to the man that pushed Katara, the warrior and Zuko met eyes. The black void in the fire bender’s eyes sent chills down the Water Tribe man’s spine.

Zuko’s suddenly movements were fast, he pushed his head forward, knocking the man in the stomach. The Water Tribe man doubled over, releasing his grip on the fire bender’s bicep. Zuko hit the floor in a spinning motion, throwing a small burst of flame around him. The other warrior immediately let go as both men backed up, putting their arms up to shield his face from the incoming attack. 

Zuko was instantly on his feet, kicking his leg into the air he brought it down in a swooping motion with incredible force and a row of flames shot out when his foot carried across the sand. The Water Tribe men who had been holding him, backed away further, as the fire bender positioned himself in between Katara and rest of the men. She was still laying in the sand, her eyes wide as she watched Zuko prepare for another attack.

Hakoda felt panicked as he watched the Fire Nation Prince stand in front of his daughter, he reacted instantly, grabbing a spear from one of his tribesmen and pointed it at Zuko.

Zuko frowned and even with his hands chained behind his back he gritted his teeth and crouched into a fighting position. His legs shifted into a secure stance in the sand as he stood in between Hakoda and Katara. 

“Dad, please! Stop, you don’t have to do this! Its all a misunderstanding!”

Katara rose to her feet as she begged her dad to reconsider engaging with Zuko. Images of him burning Long Feng into ash flashed through her mind. Her heart pounding in her chest as she envisioned her dad being in Long Feng’s position.

Without thinking she reached out and grabbed Zuko’s arm, tugging on it softly, the scarred side of his face turned to look at her. She saw his blown out pupil, the void left in his eyes, except the tiniest bit of gold was still there. She could still save him, and he obviously wanted to protect her. 

Zuko was still in there.

“Zuko… Please.”

Before she could say anything else, Bato pulled out his whale tooth blade and sprung in between Zuko and Katara. He pushed her back as he trust his blade forward, making contact with the Prince’s ribcage. He cut a deep gash into Zuko’s side, dark red blood began to seep through the open wound.

Zuko said nothing, he didn’t even react to the pain.

Iroh reacted though, he saw the blade make contact, and the blood. Zuko was being hurt by these men and Iroh had tried to be polite and show respect. But he will be dammed before he allowed his nephew to feel pain from anyone, ever again. 

The Dragon of the West engulfed his fists into flames, and moving quickly, pivoting around two Water Tribe men until he was next to Chief Hakoda. Grabbing the man’s spear his flaming hands burnt the wooden shaft into ash. The sharp, bone carved tip hit the sand as it fell apart. Iroh kicked out his leg and knocked Hakoda off his stance, he hit the sand on his back, knocking the air out of his lungs. 

Bato saw Hakoda fall and assumed the worst. Afraid his friend had been injured, he took the knife and made a move towards Iroh. But the ex general was too fast, he saw Bato coming before the Water Tribe man could strike. Using his fire bending, he sent a small band of flames at the ground, pushing back Bato’s advances. 

Feeling satisfied that the Water Tribe men were far enough away from Zuko, Iroh tried to reason with the men again. 

“I am not trying to engage in a physical battle with you. I am simply trying to protect the last family that I have. If you try to hurt Prince Zuko again, I will be forced to engage in battle with you.” He held up his hands and shifted into a fighting stance once again. 

Hakoda stood once more and looked over at his daughter, to his complete surprised she had both hands on the Prince’s arms. She was trying to get his attention, even thought the boy had his eyes set on anyone who was daring to get close to Katara. 

“Zuko, please… Look at me. Zuko…”

He finally shifted his gaze down as she put her hand on his face, touching his unscarred cheek she guided his head towards her.

“You need to clam down, you have been hurt. If you keep bleeding like this you will die. Remember? I don’t want you to die, and I don’t want you to hurt these men. These people are my family. Remember Azula? Your sister? They are my sisters. Please Zuko. Please.”

The fire bender relaxed his stance slightly, his arms still chained behind his back, he let his head drop somewhat. She saw his legs shaking, knowing he probably didn’t have the strength to continue standing, let alone fight. He dropped to his knees as Iroh glanced back at him to make sure he was alright. 

Katara pulled water out of her water skin and started healing his side, he was losing blood fast, she needed to seal the wound quickly.

Hakoda and Bato stood next to each other with Iroh in between them and Zuko. The Water Tribe men watched Katara handle the fire bender with her gentle nature and the kindness her mother was known for. Hakoda looked at Iroh and then at his men who were circled around them, weapons ready. The men who would die for their tribe and have all been wronged by the Fire Nation. 

He knew they would love nothing more than to see the two fire benders put to death, and if not for them arriving with the Avatar, Hakoda wouldn’t have given it a second thought. 

Sokka stepped forward, Toph holding onto his arm. 

“Dad… They helped us escape Ba Sing Se, Iroh has done nothing to hurt us. Zuko is kind of an asshole but he has been through some crazy shit lately and honestly, he might still think he is Lee from Ba Sing Se. Which is a long story and I will have to explain more in depth after we get out of the freezing rain. I promise they wont do anything to hurt us.”

Hakoda looked at his son, the small boy who he left in the village was still back there in the South Pole, before him now, stood a man. He glanced at the petite blind girl holding his arm, her cheeks flushed and eyes red. He dark hair air plastered to her face from the rain. He remembered seeing her jump in to defend the Fire Prince when he was on the ground. If these kids trusted them so much, then Hakoda could at least detain and interrogate them before making a decision. 

“General Iroh, if you agree to be detained and agree to answer my questions I will not hurt you or your nephew. At least not right now, and if your nephew or you do anything to injure my men then I will be forced to execute you both. Do you understand?”

Iroh nodded in agreement. He would do anything to help Zuko, and the boy was gravely injured right now. If he did try to fight the Water Tribe men, he would be doing more harm than good. So he agreed, holding out his wrists he allowed the men to pull his arms back and detain him.

Katara wouldn’t let anyone touch Zuko until she was done healing his side. Her arms were shaking as the energy she needed to finish closing the wound was completely exhausted. It wasn’t bleeding as much anymore but she was unable to close it completely. Most of her energy was spent on Aang and helping heal his wound, she didn’t have much left to spare for Zuko.

“I need bandages, dad.”

Hakoda frowned, “I think he will be fine, Katara.”

She glared at him, standing to her feet. 

“You haven’t been around in three years and now you think you can tell me what I do and don’t need? I need bandages, and I need you to have someone go get them for me. I am not letting you and your men touch him until his wounds are wrapped. So please, dad, someone get me bandages.”

Chief Hakoda’s heart sunk in his chest, his small, giggly daughter that he left in the village, was all grown up. And she seemed very angry at him. He just nodded and looked at Bato, who seemed to read his mind and left to go get the bandages.

Once he returned, Katara thanked him and lifted Zuko’s shirt to start wrapping his wound. She tried to ignore all the new bruises and cuts that were on his chest and back. She didn’t have the strength to heal him right now, so there was no use in dwelling on it. 

Hakoda saw them though, he and Bato both saw how unbelievably injured the Fire Nation Prince really was. After Katara was done wrapping him she gently helped him to his feet. Iroh closed his eyes and looked away, his chest heavy from seeing the injuries his nephew had received from the Dai Li.

“Ok dad, here… You can take him now. But I swear, if you guys do anything to hurt him anymore then he already is, I will flood this camp.”

Iroh smiled to himself, watching the feisty water bender defend his nephew. She was filled with such courage and compassion, she reminded him or his own wife, rest her soul.

Hakoda frowned at Katara, but decided to keep his mouth shut, he motioned for a few men to lead Iroh and Zuko away. Once the fire benders were out of sight he turned to Katara and Sokka, “Would you kids like to join me in my tent where it is dry. We will get you something to eat and we can all catch up.”

The Earth King suddenly appeared off the saddle, “Hello, would there be a place that I might get changed and dry off?”

Bato paused, feeling taken back by the Earth King’s sudden presence. “Of course your Highness, follow me.”

Hakoda and his kids walked to his tent, followed by Toph. Once inside, they all sat around the fire that was flickering in the center of the space. There were maps on the table at the far end, and furs lined over the floor with pillows. Sokka and Katara felt right at home, snuggling into one of the warm furs. Katara bent the water out of all their clothing so they wouldn’t catch a cold. 

Everyone seemed happier now that they were dry and warm.

Hakoda was impressed with her bending skills, but he was still worried about his daughter. She seemed to have a strange attachment to the Fire Prince and it made him feel uneasy. The way she threatened to injure her own people for not providing bandages to the enemy.

“Alright kids, please, start from the beginning. I want to know what happened. Starting with the day you left home and please don’t leave out a single detail. Young girl, what is your name?”

Toph crossed her arms, “My name is Toph.”

“Okay Toph, feel free to add in wherever you see fit, ok?”

She smirked, “I was already planning on it.”

So they told Hakoda the story, not sparring a single detail. Any details that Sokka wanted to leave out Katara was there to share. Anything that Katara wanted to avoid, Sokka made sure to go in depth. Both siblings were at the mercy of Toph and he honesty as well. By the end of the story their dad appeared calm, but they could tell his mind was spinning.

“So… The Prince of the Fire Nation is brainwashed, the Avatar might never wake up again, the Dragon of the West is helping us end the war… And you’re blind but you invented metal bending?”

Toph nodded, “Pretty much.”

“This is a lot to take in…”

Sokka chuckled, “Try living it.”

“I am sorry you children had to live through all this, the war was never meant for children to fight.”

Katara frowned, “Well when the Avatar is only a child himself, and the adults are too busy to listen and are off fighting the war, then the children had to do what was necessary. There aren’t any ‘adults’ left in our village that would have been able to help Aang anyway, they are all here with you. So yeah dad, we are fighting in the war.”

Hakoda could see the anger in his daughter’s eyes as she glared at him.

“I think you kids have had a long day and should try and get some sleep. I would be happy to share my tent with you for tonight and tomorrow we can get you something more suitable for your stay here.”

Katara crossed her arms, “what is going to happen to Zuko and his uncle?”

Hakoda frowned this time, he was getting tired of her obsessing over the Fire Prince and his uncle.

“They will be in our prisoner tent, with guards, until I can question them in the morning.”

“I will need to heal Zuko in the morning, after I take care of Aang.”

“No Katara, you will not be allowed into that tent until I decide it is safe for you to go in there.”

Katara’s face contorted, her ears started burning, standing to her feet she couldn’t hold her anger back.

“WHAT!? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME WHO I CAN AND CAN’T HEAL!! I AM A HEALER DAD, IT’S MY JOB! I HAVE BEEN HEALING ZUKO FOR WEEKS AND NOW ALL OF-“

Hakoda stood, “Enough, Katara!”

She stopped yelling, crossing her arms she stared at her dad from across the tent.

“I am the Chief of our tribe, I have to do what I think is best for our people. You are my daughter, I expect you to respect me and my commands. If you are unable to follow the rules like everyone else, I will have to take the necessary steps to ensure you and the tribe’s safety.”

Katara was glaring now, he lips formed a thin line. She was clearly not happy with Hakoda for multiple reasons. They had to be stemming from more than him not letting her heal the fire bender. But she nodded in compliance, picking and choosing her battles. There were other ways to do what she wanted without having a verbal battle with her dad.

“Fine.”

She plopped back into the mixture of furs and pillows on the floor and laid down to rest. Her eyes were heavy and the moment her head hit the pillow and the warmth of the furs reached her core she was asleep. 

Toph followed her lead and propped her feet up and closed her eyes, allowing the utter exhaustion from today’s events to lull her to sleep. 

Sokka wanted to sleep, he wanted so badly to fall asleep and forget the terrible things that happened today, Aang dying, Aang being brought back, the fall of Ba Sing Se, his sister and father fighting over… Zuko.

_Zuko, the fire bender, who can’t stop causing me and my family trouble… I don’t know what to do anymore… I think I like Lee, but I hate Zuko. I can’t even believe how crazy that sounds, they are the same fucking person! Even now my father is trying to do whats best for our tribe and he is uprooting everything. Katara needs to get a grip, she can’t put the well being of Prince fucking Zuko over the rest of her family._

Sokka broke out of his train of thought to meet eyes with his dad. His dad’s eyes looked tired and there was a layer of stress that Sokka was un familiar with from his dad. The Water Tribe men looked at each other for a moment, letting unspoken words make conversation. 

Sokka knew he dad needed his support, and tomorrow would be a long and tiresome day, but he will stand by his dad’s side through it all. Katara was emotional driven, and she wants to heal everyone. But sometimes in war people can’t be healed, and its better to let them die. 

Sokka knows this is what his dad is trying to tell him, and that he was asking his son to support him in whatever decision they make. 

When the boy finally laid his head down to fall asleep, a twisting feeling in his gut appeared.

_Well that’s new._

He clears his mind and doesn’t allow the dull pain to keep him from drifting to sleep. 

\- - - - - - - - - - -

The kids are all still sleeping when Hakoda awakens early the next morning, he steps outside his tent, carefully stepping around the children sprawled across his floor. Bato is waiting there for him.

“Good morning Chief, I assume we are going to go speak with the fire benders before you daughter wakes up and demands we free them?”

Hakoda knows Bato is trying to be funny, and trying to keep the topic of his daughter’s commitment to the Fire Prince light and easy. But Hakoda can’t help but feel the seriousness dripping off his words. 

This is war.

They are the enemy.

The enemy must be dealt with.

The walk to the prisoner tent is short, the sand is cool and damp from all the rain last night, the sun is barely peeking over the ocean horizon. The campsite itself only has two rows of tents, and an open area in the middle for cooking and mingling. The Water Tribe ships are docked on the shoreline.

Pushing back the tent flap, Hakoda and Bato walk through the opening, receiving a surprisingly cheerful greeting form Iroh.

“Good morning, I hope you rested well.”

Hakoda and Bato exchange glances, “well, uh, yes we did. Thank you for asking. How… Uh, did you sleep?” Hakoda shrugged at Bato, he didn’t know what else to say.

Iroh chuckles, “well, as good as one can sleep with their arms chained to a pole behind their back.”

He wasn’t lying, the two fire benders were chained to a pole in the center of the tent, their arms fastened behind their back. Both men were sitting on opposite sides, Iroh was awake and it seemed that Zuko was still sleeping. His head was hanging loosely, his dark bangs covering his eyes. His chest seemed to move softly with his shallow, steady breathing. 

Hakoda remembered seeing all the damage that was inflicted on the boys chest and upper body and he wondering how much covered the rest of the boy. He was also curious how someone was able to inflict that much damage to the Prince of the Fire Nation. 

“I am here to ask you both some questions. Bato will you wake Prince Zuko up?”

Iroh tried to stop him, “please… If you could let the boy rest, he was up half the night, I just want to let his body have time to try and heel. I will answer all the questions I can, I have nothing to hide. I promise you when he wakes up he will answer your questions.”

Bato glanced at the Chief who nodded in approval, he would let the boy rest.

Pulling up a stool Hakoda sat in front of Iroh, as the older fire bender sat in the sand his back leaning against the thick wooden pole in the center of the tent. 

“To start, why are you here? How do you know my children?”

“Ahh, yes, so to start with how I know your children. My nephew has been hunting the Avatar across the world for the greater part of a year. I officially met your lovely children in the South Pole when Prince Zuko visited your village looking for the Avatar. My first official conversation with your daughter, Katara, was when she had a run in with pirates after she stole a water bending scroll. I met Sokka that day as well, though our encounter was much more brief. After that I have had multiple interactions with your children, most unpleasant, I will admit. 

“Now we here because the Dai Li have brainwashed my nephew and your wonderful daughter, Katara, has been healing him. We had a run in with Princess Azula and the Dai Li before the fall of Ba Sing Se, when the Avatar was injured, and we were able to escape with them on their flying bison.”

Hakoda frowned, “Your nephew is the one who has been tormenting my children across the world, trying to burn them and capture the Avatar?”

Now it was Iroh’s turn to frown.

“If my nephew wanted to burn your children, they would be burnt. I assure you my nephew is only following orders and has done his best to ensure that your children were never injured during any of their encounters.”

“Why is Prince Zuko trying to capture the Avatar?”

“He was given the orders from the Fire Lord, and he is following those orders.”

“What are your orders, General Iroh?”

“I am a retired General, therefore I have no orders, I simply chose to come with my nephew so I could travel the world.”

“How did you end up in Ba Sing Se?”

“I am an a man who loves his tea, and Ba Sing Se is known for having the best selection of rare teas in all the lands. I opened my own tea shop there in hopes of starting a new life for myself and my nephew.”

“Was it a ploy to capture the Avatar?”

“No, it was not.”

“How did Prince Zuko get brainwashed?”

“A troubled young man came to our shop threatening our lives, so my nephew defended our honor and our lives. He ended up fighting the boy in the streets and when the young man was being dragged away by the Dai Li, my foolish nephew tired to save him. In return, he was captures and brainwashed into thinking he is a man from Ba Sing Se.”

“Why would the Dai Li brainwash him?”

“He is a powerful bender, and holds the Royal Families blood in his veins. Once they figured out who he was, they wanted to use him for their own selfish desires within the war. But lucky for us, Zuko is not as easy to manipulate as one may think. He also holds a very strong attachment to your daughter and broke free of their grasp to save her life.”

“That brings me to my next question, why is my daughter so interested in him?”

“I believe by her healing him, she is sharing in his pain and suffering. Your daughter has a very kind heart. She sees someone who is wounded and in need of love and kindness and she wants to heal him by offering him that kindness and love. In return my nephew is fiercely loyal, to his own fault. But to be loyal to Katara has proven to benefit both of them. He saved her life in Ba Sing Se, and she in return is trying to save his.”

“I see, my daughter did always have a soft spot for someone with a sad story…”

“My nephew’s story is probably the saddest they come… I hate to say it, but life has not been kind to him.”

“But he is the Prince of the Fire Nation, I find that hard to believe. Knowing what his father has done to the people of the world, I highly doubt he could have suffered more than the rest of us.”

Iroh closed his eyes and let out a long breath, “the Fire Lord is an evil man, we can both agree on that.” He finally looked up, his burning amber eyes staring at the blue eyed Water Tribe Chief. “But imagine the destruction that he could inflict on someone who was there, within his grasp. Someone he deemed unworthy of being his son. Someone who carried his mother’s kindness and gentle spirit, who loved people and wanted to do the right thing. Well… I am sure you could imagine how much pain and suffering he could cause that person.”

Hakoda’s gaze flickered to Zuko, the boy still sleeping, his neck covered in dark purple bruising and his breathing still shallow and short. It was hard to envision him as a Prince, he looked no better then a homeless person. 

“I still don’t trust you or him. How do I know you aren’t just using my children and their resources until you find a Fire Nation ally and then you use all the information you hear and see against us?”

Iroh nodded, “I see why you might think that, but I assure you we have wanted posters for our arrest, dead or alive. I have no interest in returning to the Fire Nation while my brother is Fire Lord. I simply want to help end the madness and restore balance to the world.”

Hakoda shifted his weight back, glancing up at Bato, the two Water Tribe leaders seemed to be at a loss. 

“I need to speak to your nephew when he wakes up.”

“I know you will, but I must tell you… He is not well. He needs to be healed before he will be of any use answering your questions. The Dai Li did something terrible to his mind and he is not in touch with reality, it seems.”

Bato interjected, “he was well enough to fight us yesterday, he should be well enough to answer our questions.”

“He only engaged once Katara was pushed to the ground by your men, he was complying until she yelled out in pain. I shared with you already, he is fiercely loyal. If you wish to speak with him when he wakes up I can not stop you. I just plead with you to understand he is not himself right now. Do not hold his lack of understanding against him.”

“I will take your words of advice and we will be back later to check in with you.”

The men stood and left the tent. 

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Katara woke up in a daze, her eyelids weighed heavy and her head was pounding. Her mind seemed to be playing tricks on her, was she back home in the South Pole?

_Did we win the war?_

_No… We lost… Aang…_

_Wait, Aang is alive._

_Where am I?_

_Where is Aang!?_

She jumped to her feet, the memories of yesterday pouring into vision. She remembered the fall of Ba Sing Se, her spirit water saving Aang, Zuko saving her life, Zuko behind hurt, his uncle and him being taken prisoner. 

She quickly grabbed her water skin that laid on the floor next to where she was sleeping and she slipped out of the tent. Making her way to where Aang was resting, she went unnoticed through camp until she arrived at his bedside. 

Seeing him lying there, so small and weak, made her heart twist into her throat. She should have been up all night healing him. She knew how exhausted she had been, but she could have tried to do something. 

Her hands glowed as she gently turned Aang to his side, touching the burnt flesh in the center of his back. The smell of rotting skin made her stomach turn, she pressed the healing water deep into his core, trying to knit the tissues and repair the veins so she could begin trying to close the wound. His eyes twitched, she knew healing was painful, but it was necessary. He didn’t say anything or open his eyes, she understood it would be a while before he would be able to hold a conversation.

_If he could ever hold a conversation again._

_No, he was going to be fine._

_The spirit water worked._

_He is alive, I just have to focus on being here for him._

She stayed by his side until the quiet morning turned into a loud and chaotic morning, full of men waking and preparing food. Laughing and joking as they began their day. Water Tribe men were known for being a rowdy bunch, they were not raised to be sneaky or subtle. 

After her second healing session of the morning she decided to make her way out of the tent and into the more common space. The two men that restrained Zuko last night were sitting around the fire, while a big pot bubbled over it. They met her eyes with her and frowned. 

_Well I guess I already have a reputation around here, its their own faults. If they wouldn’t have pushed me, none of this would have happened. Zuko would have gone peacefully and they wouldn’t hate me._

_….Why did Zuko do that? For the second time, he saved my life from Long Feng and then again when the Water Tribe man pushed me down. It is strange… I wish I could go see him. I am trying really hard to follow my dad’s orders but he needs to be healed. I can heal him. Maybe now that it is a new day my dad will change his mind._

\- - - - - - - - - - -

“No.”

“But da-“

“I said no.”

“That’s not fair! I came to you, as a healer, asking your permission! I didn’t have to do that! I could just walk into the tent of my own free will!” 

“I have the prison tent heavily guarded, you will not be allowed to enter there. I am sorry Katara, I truly am I-“

“No you’re not dad! You’re not sorry!! You only care about winning the war! You don’t care who you have to hurt in order to do that!”

Katara pivoted around and stormed out. Her head was spinning in anger, she could see her father’s stunned and hurt face dancing through her mind. She was too mad to care.

She was going to go heal Zuko.

She owed him her life.

She was a master water bender, lets see someone try and stop her.

\- - - - - - - - - - 

“That’s not a good plan Sugar Queen, you’re going to get Gramps and Crazy boy killed. You can’t just storm in there, ice daggers blazing and expect to have a calm healing session right after. Now…. You do have the worlds greatest earth bender with you, so we could always do something like that.”

“But I thought you couldn’t bend well in sand.”

“I have been practicing since the desert, and what better way to test my skills then breaking you into a tent to heal your swore enemy! I wouldn’t want it to go down any other way.”

Katara rolled her eyes, but her smile gave away the way she truly felt. Thankful, she had to admit, Toph’s plan was WAY better then hers.

\- - - - - - - - - - - 

Tunneling into the tent was way easier then it probably should be, but Katara wasn’t complaining. Toph said she would wait underground and keep her feet aware of the surrounding area to make sure she didn’t have any surprise visitors. 

Katara pulled herself out of the tunnel and into the tent, meeting the gaze of Iroh. 

“Well, this is… Unexpected.” The older fire bender chuckled. “I am happy to see you none the less. Are you here to heal my nephew?”

He gave her a hopeful smile and she returned his emotions, “yes.”

She shuffled over to Zuko, his eyes half open, staring at the ground. Katara gently put her hands on both side’s of his face, her thumb lightly touching the bottom of his scar. Softly, she tilted his head up, until she could see his eyes. He didn’t even react to her touch, his eyes stayed straight forward, his pupils still blown out larger than humanly possible. 

“Zuko, can you hear me?”

No reaction.

She looked past him at the back of Iroh’s head, the older fire bender was unable to turn and face them but she knew he was listening intently. 

“Uncle, I have to try and heal his mind so he can try to answer my dad’s questions. I will work on his exterior wounds after, he is stable for now but I am afraid if I don’t undo what the Dai Li did he might never recover mentally.”

“I trust your judgement as a healer, I can not thank you enough for helping my nephew…” She could hear the sadness in his voice. She hasn’t seen Iroh much in Zuko’s memories but she knew they shared a close bond. She turned her attention back to the fire bender’s face that was still resting gently in her hands. 

“Zuko, I am going to try to heal your mind, if you can hear me, try to remember as far back as you can.”

Her hands began to glow and she pushed them against his temples, pushing hard into his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark again, just like Katara remembered from the first time she ever tried to heal him. She moved her healing water further into the void, pushing through the thick sludge that coated his fragile psyche. She sees green fire, burning hot, her skin begins to tingle as the flames threaten to melt the flesh right off her bone. 

She keeps pushing until she see’s a dark room, Zuko is chained to a metal chair, his hands are covered in metal cuffs. The cuff’s are an genius design to keep fire benders from melting the metal, with risk of being burnt themselves.

The green fire, and thick sludge makes the memory fuzzy, she can only see him chained up his head dipped low. Katara uses her remaining strength to push her healing into the sludge, her cool water extinguishing the flames and clearing the darkness. 

She can finally see Zuko clearly, and the room he is in. It looks worn down, probably somewhere in the lower ring. Blankets are over the windows and the only furniture in the room is the metal chair Zuko is chained to and another empty chair in front of him. A green crystal in the order gives the room the errie green glow she has become all too familiar with.

She watches as Zuko’s eyes slowly open, he is blinking heavily, and his breathing begins to turn into shallow rapid breaths. She can see his body slipping into a panic as his full consciousness takes control.

There are two Dai Li agents she didn’t see before, standing at the door facing Zuko, one of the nods to the other and one of them leaves the room.

Zuko grits his teeth, “why am I here!? What do you want from me?!”

The agent says nothing.

Zuko struggles against the restraints. He begins pulling and trying to kick his legs out, which are also chained to the leg’s of the chair. He is completely immobile.

She sees Long Feng enter the room, his hands interlaced behind his back, a cruel smile on his face. He walks towards the empty chair and sits down, Zuko’s head shifts back so he neck rests against he back of the chair.

“Hello Lee. Do you know who I am?”

Zuko shakes his head, no.

“I wouldn’t expect you to, but I will fill you in. My name is Long Feng and I am the last person you will ever remember. I am the only one who can save your little friends, if you choose to participate everyone will be spared. Including yourself. If you choose to resist and make this difficult like… Last time, then you and your friends will suffer.”

Zuko glared at him, “I don’t have any friends.”

“Oh don’t play coy with me, I know you and the water bender have been spending time together. I also have seen the way you and the Avatar are getting close. It would be a shame if something happened to them wouldn’t it?”

“Don’t touch them.”

“Don’t make me have too.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want you to play an intricate part in my plan to over throw the Fire Nation and make the Dai Li the most powerful army in the world. Can you help me do that?”

“No. I wont help you hurt innocent people. Its bad enough what happened to the Air Nomads, I will not help you kill any more people.”

“Oh Lee-”

“I am not Lee, I am Zuko.”

Long Feng’s eye brows raised, before settling into a frown. “That water bender did heal your mind didn’t she? Well this is going to be more complicated and much more painful for you now.”

Zuko grit his teeth, raising his chin in defiance.

“I am not scared of you.”

“You should be.”

She watched the agent’s approach as Long Feng stood and smirked, “try not to scream too much, the neighbors might complain.”

He left the room as the agents moved closer to Zuko, raising their stone fists they began beating him senseless. She watched as they cracked his ribs, and turned the unscarred side of his face black and blue.  
She wanted to stop watching and pull away, but if she did the memory would disappear and all this would have been for nothing. 

After what felt like an eternity they stepped away from the bleeding and broken boy, his head hung loose as blood dripped from his mouth and nose. His breathing was shallowing and rasped which indicated internal damage. 

They left him wheezing for a while until Long Feng returned, carrying a syringe with black liquid in it. He didn’t say a word, grabbing Zuko by the hair he lifted the boy’s limp head. The fire bender’s eyes were still dilated and began to roll back. Long Feng just smirked and shoved the needle deep into Zuko’s neck, injecting the black liquid into his veins. 

She saw everything go dark, when another memory finally appeared she saw herself. She was standing in the cavern, fighting Dai Li agents. She saw the boulder hit her, and she fell. Blood spotting on her tunic as she screamed out in pain. 

Everything stopped.

She saw Zuko turn to her, she could hear his voice even though his lips weren’t moving. The voice wasn’t coming from his vocal cords, it must be coming from his thoughts.

_“Don’t let them hurt her!!! You need to turn the fuck around and help her!! Fuck his orders!! Please, turn around and help her! They are going to kill Katara!! Go now!! Please!”_

She saw his hesitation, the battle he was having internally, even if it only lasted a few seconds. He turned and came for her. She watched him defend her, she watched him save her life. 

Then she watched him stand over Long Feng, she saw the darkness in his heart and his tainted soul surface as he smirked and burnt the Dai Li’s leader until he was nothing more then charred bones. She could hear laughter, but it wasn’t Zuko’s laughter.

It sounds like… Ozai… His laughter echoed in the cavern.

_”Like father, like son… You are my flesh and blood, after all.”_

She saw Zuko’s eyes narrow as he scowled down at the dead man at his feet. She could see the pain and anger in his face. Everything went blank as the flash of lightning erupted, sending cold chills down Katara’s arms. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inhaling deeply she sat back, her heart pounding. The sand was cool under the shade from the tent, her hands instinctively began swirling her fingers in the cool, soft sand. Twirling little shapes at her feet. Sand reminded her of the South Pole, it resembled snow, just not as versatile. Sand was weaker than snow, it crumbled and fell, but snow could be molded into almost anything. When needed snow can be consumed, sustaining life. 

Katara blinked, not sure why her brain wanted to think back to the snow in the South Pole. Maybe because it was simpler times, when the worst thing she would have to deal with was Sokka’s stinky feet, or washing his soiled clothing. 

Looking up she saw Zuko staring at her, “Zuko?”

He nodded, “Hi.”

She smiled, sitting up on her knees she looked at his eyes, still black but she could see a little more of the gold. 

“How do you feel?”

“I feel… Nothing… Like before.”

Her heart shattered, she didn’t expect him to make a full recovery just now, but she hoped for more progress.

“What do you remember?”

“The Dai Li… The cavern, you almost dying, Aang… Getting shot with lightning. The crazy girl, being at a campsite… The fuzzy big creature… Uhh… I remember the guy, and killing him. I want to say I am Lee, but when you said Zuko it sounded right. I am mostly just confused…”

“At least you can speak now. You wouldn’t even talk earlier, and I guess its good you can’t feel so you aren’t in pain… But I will have to continue to heal your mind. I want to undo everything the Dai Li did to you.”

Zuko nodded, and smiled at her. She smiled back, her heart skipped a beat, but she pushed that feeling far, far away. 

“Let me help you get cleaned up, you have blood everywhere…”

“Sweetness, we got to go. I think your dad is heading towards the tent. Come on!”

Katara looked at Zuko, her big blue eyes saddened that she wasn’t able to do more for him. 

“I’m sorry I have to go.”

“Will you come back?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Ok…I trust you.”

Her heart fluttered again, “Uncle, I am going to be back to help him, ok?”

The older fire bender shifted, she heard a sniffle, before he nodded. 

“Thank you Katara… For everything you did for him. I am forever grateful to you.” She could hear the pain behind his words. 

“There is still so much to do, but I promise, i’ll be back.”

She slipped into the tunnel before Toph closed it and they made their way through the darkness until they arrived just outside of camp.

“Did you help him?” Toph’s tone sounded concerned. 

“I tried, he remembers the fight with the Dai Li, and I think he recalls a little of us camping together. But his mind is still foggy and repressed. I will need to do a lot more healing sessions with him to try and clear it up.”

“Well toots, i’ll sneak you in as much as I can. I like this rowdy rebel girl side to you, Sparky sure has that affect on you. He brings out that bad girl you try so hard to hide.”

Her face flushes a deep red color. “No! I am not… That’s not… UGH! Toph, stop looking at me!”

“I can’t see you!”

“Yes you can! You are watching my… Heart or breathing, or… Whatever! Just stop!” 

She storms off, trying to hide her smile, and breathing to keep her heart rate under control. Toph stands behind her crossing her arms with a big smile on her face, yelling after Katara.

“You can’t hide from me Sugar Queen!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the latest update, can’t wait to get back into Katara and her healing hands next chapter.
> 
> Yay for little Zuko! Thank you to all who comment, I love reading them and responding back. You make this journey so rewarding! 
> 
> No one wants to post chapters into silence, so thank you again for your positive vibes. :)
> 
> <3 Until next time!


	7. Rediscovering

# Rediscovering

Hakoda was skeptical. 

He was very, very, skeptical. 

His daughter was smiling… For some odd reason.

Just yesterday she was threatening to drown everyone in camp, and now she was smiling as she strolled into the Avatar’s healing tent. The sun was barely high enough in the sky for her to have forgotten all that anger and hostility she had thrown at him, just a few hours ago. Maybe she didn’t mean all those things she said?

_Maybe she was just tired; Kya used to get so angry when she didn’t get enough sleep._

_Or perhaps she was hungry; Kya used to get so angry when she waited too long between meals._

_Kya didn’t prepare me to deal with teenage girls, I could really use her help._

_Katara is both confusing and terrifying; just like Kya was._

Hakoda stood next to the campfire, waiting for Bato to finish eating so they could go interrogate the Fire Nation Prince. Enough time had passed for the young Prince to get an adequate amount of sleep. Hakoda stood with his arm’s crossed taking turns between watching his best friend eat, and watching the fire burn. Bato wiped his mouth and set the empty bowl in the sand.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! You know, if you didn’t stew such great sea prunes then you wouldn’t have to worry about me eating two bowls!” Bato rushed to his Chief’s side. 

The two Water Tribe men gathered their weapons, just in case, and headed to the prisoner’s tent. He caught the glare from Katara as he made his way to where the Fire Prince and his uncle were being held.

“You better not hurt him!” Katara yelled at her father. He nodded, acknowledging her threat.

_Well… She is back to threatening me again, at least I know how to handle that._

Pulling back the tent flap, both men entered the space. 

“Afternoon Prince Zuko. I am here to ask you a couple of questions.”

For the first time, he really looked into Zuko’s eyes and saw the emptiness, the boy’s pupils were so big he looked haunted. His skin was pale, except for the splotchy black and blue bruises that covered his neck and a few that lingers on the ‘good side’ of his face.

Zuko just nodded, he wasn’t sure how else to respond. He knew these men didn’t like him based on the way they glared at him. They dressed like Katara, but were no where near as pretty as her, and they did not have the compassionate eyes like she did. They looked like they wanted to hurt him.

“What are your intentions with the Avatar?”

“Umm.. The Avatar?”

“Yes, the Avatar.”

“I uh.. I don’t know… I don’t think I have any intentions…”

“You have been trying to capture him, have you not?”

“No.”

“Are you lying to us?”

“No, I am telling you the truth. At least I think I am…”

“Don’t act dumb with us boy, your uncle will not be able to protect you this time. If you do not want to comply, we will be forced to take action against you and consider you a threat.”

Zuko frowned, “I am complying! I think. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Why don’t you start with telling us what you know?”

“I know I am Lee, or I was Lee, but I am not Lee anymore. I know I was underground, and I was attacked, and then I killed that guy… I know Katara, and Aang and there are two other people who stayed at the campsite with us, I can’t remember exactly. I know I make tea, in Ba Sing Se… I have a sister, I think. No I do, I do have a sister. She is evil? Or she isn’t, no… Uhh…”

His head was pounding, he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. Every beat of his heart seemed to intensify the fuzzy sound of his blood rushing to his head. The Water Tribe men were talking to him, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. He knew they were talking because he could see their lips moving, but he could not hear their words.

They were getting angry with him.

He couldn’t hear them, he could only hear the blood in his ears and his heart pounding.

They were yelling now, he could tell because their faces were increasing in color, and one of them had a vein that was beginning to pulse in his forehead. 

The taller man was pointing a knife at him now. 

Zuko’s heart began to beat faster, his head was pounding harder until he could feel the pain, all of his pain. It came rushing in like like a roaring river, smashing against the his skin, muscle, and bones. It was unlike anything he ever felt before.

He wasn’t used to feeling pain.

Suddenly he was screaming. 

Everything went black.

\- - - - - - - - - - -

Katara sat with Sokka and Toph on one of the logs that was placed surrounding the fire. Sokka was on his third bowl of stewed sea prunes while Toph was still poking at her first one. 

“So… What is a sea prune?”

“Well Toph, a sea prune is a small fruit which grows in the ocean. It is native to the Southern Water Tribe and-“

Sokka was cut off by a blood curtailing scream. Katara dropped her bowl of food, she knew that voice. 

It was Zuko.

She took off in a sprint, her heart pounding, as she slid across the sand, almost losing her footing. Arriving at the prisoner tent she was met by two Water Tribe men standing guard.

“You can’t go in there, Katara.”

“It would be wise of you to move.”

“I’m sorry, you can’t go in there.”

Katara heard the screaming go quiet, and the mummers inside, one sounded like her father another maybe Iroh? Either way, she was going into that tent and no one was going to stop her. She summoned ice daggers from her water skin, glaring at the men. 

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

The Southern Water Tribe people had been without water benders for years, most of the tribe couldn’t recall a time when water benders were an avid part of their culture. So to see a woman with ice daggers threatening their lives, it was enough to make the young men step aside. 

Katara knew she could be scary when she wanted to.

She walked into the tent with confidence, looking inside her eyes landed on Zuko. The back of his head was resting against the pole, barely being held up by his neck. His eyes were closed and there was a small stream of blood leaking out of his ears, dripping onto his shoulder. His scarred side was facing her, he looked lifeless.

“What did you do?!” She screamed, running to Zuko, she knelt in front of him. Reaching out she put his face in her hands. Katara made sure to touch him lightly as she moved his head around so she could look him over. He didn’t appear to have new wounds, but he wasn’t bleeding out of his ears when she saw him yesterday.

Katara was surprised to hear Iroh’s voice fade in, “They were asking my nephew questions and he didn’t know how to answer them. Chief Hakoda and Bato were just doing their duty and unfortunately, Prince Zuko is not well and he seemed to have a breakdown. He screamed for a while until he suddenly stopped. I can not see him, is he alright?”

Katara glared at her dad, “I told you he wasn’t ok, if you would have listened to me this would not have happened.”

Hakoda pinched the bridge of his nose, “Katara, I don’t even know how you got in here.” Raising his voice and tilting his head toward the tent opening, “I should probably find, BETTER GUARDS.” Bato chuckled knowing the two young men standing on the outside of the tent were probably squirming in their nervousness.

“Can you help him?” Iroh asked, sounding concerned. 

“I can try, he seems to be unconscious and I haven’t tried to heal his mind when he wasn’t fully awake. I don’t know if it will work.”

Hakoda’s brow furrowed, “Heal his mind? Katara what is going on?”

“I have to try and help him dad! I have been healing him from the damage the Dai Li did to him. Please!”

“Katara I said no! Bato, please escort my daughter out of this tent. I am going to talk to Iroh alone.”

Katara clenched her fists in anger, she was getting fed up with her dad telling her what she could and could not do. How dare he tell her she can’t heal Zuko. He has no claim to the Fire Prince, if anything Zuko was her and the Avatar’s prisoner, not Hakoda’s prisoner. 

She thought of arguing and screaming, she imagined telling her dad to go suck on a sea slug, but it would just make things worse. So she decided to control her anger now and just sneak into the tent later. 

“Ok dad.”

She pivoted on her heel, making a small indent in the sand and stormed out of the tent with her head held high. The two Water Tribe men standing outside the tent flinched as she stormed past. 

Bato looked at Hakoda, his eye brows raised. “Do… Umm.. Do you want me to follow her?”

Hakoda pinched the bridge of his nose, “No, just… Leave her. I will find her later. I can’t keep up with all the teenage girl emotions. One minute she is mad, the next she is happy. It’s best to just leave her alone for now, at least she did what I asked. Do you mind giving me a moment alone with Iroh? I would like to speak to him in private.”

Bato nodded, stealing one last glance at the unconscious teenage fire bender, he left Hakoda alone in the prisoner tent. 

Once Bato was gone Hakoda sat in the sand across from Iroh, both men were at eye level. 

“What is your end goal, retired General Iroh, Dragon of the West? ”

The fire bender sighed, “I want to live a peaceful life, and I want my nephew to find closure from his past and happiness in his future. I would like to drink good tea everyday, and I want to help end the war and see balance restored between the four nations.”

Hakoda stared deep into the eye’s of the old fire bender, searching his yellow eyes for any indication of manipulation or deceit. He was surprised to only see sincerity and honesty. The older man even had the audacity to smile. 

“Are you willing to help people from other nations with their efforts to end the war?”

“I would be willing to help anyone who sought out peace. I will not blindly follow orders, if that is what you are asking, I have done enough of that in my lifetime. I will also refuse to do things that I do not agree with, and I do not feel that has the best interest in all nations. I have much experience when it comes to strategizing and military organization. I can help where I am able, but I will not let this war end with the destruction of the Fire Nation. I want the tyrant Fire Lord Ozai, stripped from power and a more appropriate figure on the throne that will ensure peace and the best quality of life for the Fire Nation’s citizens.”

“Who do you have in mind?”

“I believe, Prince Zuko, will be the appropriate heir to the throne.”

“Is there anyone that could oppose him?”

“His younger sister, Princess Azula. She is her father’s heir at the moment and she is just as cruel and ruthless as her father. She would not bring peace, in fact, if she were to take the throne, the world as we know it, might just burn to the ground.”

Hakoda felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, the retired general spoke the truth. For some reason Hakoda wanted to trust him, but for the safety of the Avatar and his tribe he had to refrain from making any decisions right now. He would need to host council and get the overall opinion from the rest of his men. 

“Why do you believe Prince Zuko will be a better Fire Lord? Is he not the son of Ozai?”

Iroh let out a low sigh, “yes, he is. He is my brother’s first born son, a boy he did not understand and therefore cast aside once his sister was born. Zuko has always taken after his mother, he is compassionate, loving, loyal, and overall, a good boy. Ozai always preferred Azula over Zuko, she is more like her father and he has poisoned her mind to be ruthless and show no mercy. Both children chase their father’s love. Azula always received what she believes is his love, while Zuko was never able to turn into the person my brother wanted him to be. He is too good for Ozai’s love, so he received his wrath instead. Zuko will be a good loyal leader for the Fire Nation. Unlike Fire Lords before him, he has suffered greatly at the hand of his own Nation as well as other nations, because of the war. He has lived outside of the palace therefore he has experienced life outside of the cushioned royal life. These experiences will make him a strong and understanding leader, he is what the other nations need in a Fire Nation ruler. He is someone who will understand them and understand the pain the war has caused them. My nephew has felt much pain in his life.”

Hakoda didn’t respond for a few breaths. He let the man’s words sink into his soul. Iroh was passionate about putting Zuko on the throne, that was apparent, by the way he spoke about his nephew. Just by looking at the beaten and broken boy who sat passed out, chained to a pole, Hakoda could see that he had suffered. His suffering was displayed across his face. Hakoda propped his elbows onto his knees and intertwined his fingers. 

“Do you know how to bring down Fire Lord Ozai?”

“If I knew that information I would have utilized it already and brought an end to this war long before we lost so many good men and women. He is a powerful fire bender as well as a powerful ruler, getting access to him is difficult. Once you gain access to him, you would need to be able to defeat him. Both tasks are not easy. I believe the Avatar is the one who is destined to end Fire Lord Ozai’s rule, but I think he will need a lot of help.”

“I see… I appreciate you having this conversation with me, Iroh. I am willing to answer any questions you may have for for me in exchange for your honesty.”

“I have one question. Why will you not allow your daughter, the healer, to help my very sick nephew?”

Hakoda hesitated, he had to be careful how he answered this. His leadership ability as Chief was being called into question as well as his method of fathering his daughter. 

“Katara is my only daughter, I can send in our head medic to take a look at Prince Zuko. My daughter may be a healer but she has only been trained in the art of healing, not the entirety of it. A situation like this requires more than just blind, compassionate healing. I am afraid she might be getting too involved, and as a father I want to protect my daughter. I will send someone qualified in shortly.”

“Thank you, Chief Hakoda.”

“Until we speak again.”

Hakoda stood and left the tent. Iroh smothered the frustration he felt in his stomach, he would take any help he could get to save his nephew. Anyway, he was sure that Katara would sneak back in at some point today. He was surprised her father didn’t catch on to her little ploy. She was very obviously trying to avoid having any attention brought onto her. Most likely so she could sneak back in later. 

Iroh decided he likes the feisty young water bender. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Katara was about finished with her healing session with Aang, when her dad walked into the tent. She didn’t turn to look at him, if anything she just focused harder on Aang and repairing the lightning damage. 

After a bit of awkward silence, Hakoda cleared his throat to try and grab his daughter’s attention. She scoffed at his attempt to smooth over the obvious, awkward tension that resided between them. 

“So, Katara… I understand you might be upset with me-“

“No dad. I am not upset anymore. I understand why you had to make the decisions you did.”

His jaw dropped, quickly, he recovered before Katara turned to meet his eyes. Her mother’s eyes, staring at him, breaking down his Chief walls and touching his very soul. She looked angry, even when her words assured him that she was not. 

“Katara, I know you are upset with me, even when you tell me you are fine. Do you remember when your mother and I would argue?”

Katara frowned, “no, I don’t remember you ever arguing with mom.”

He chuckled, “yes I know, because your mother would say she was fine. Or that she was not mad at me, but then I would get burnt fish for dinner. Or surprisingly she would forget to do my laundry. Small things like that would happen, until I apologized, or fixed whatever it was that was bothering her. I know this situation is difficult for you because of... Uh… Your attachment to the young Prince, but I have to protect you as the Chief of this tribe. You are my only daughter, and you are the Avatar’s water bending master. I can not risk having something happen to you, even if you assure me it wont. I just hope you understand that it doesn’t mean I don’t love you, or that I want to inflict hurt onto you. I just want to protect you. I love you Katara.”

Katara watched him in silence, the guilt began to slowly move into her chest. Guilt had a funny way of making her body feel heavy and lethargic. Guilt was a difficult emotion to shake off, or bury deep, usually it was the kind of emotion that needed to be dealt with in order to move forward. 

In this instance, she couldn’t do that. Katara knew her dad meant well, but she was going to heal Zuko, and protect him. Her dad would have to learn to accept that or he was forcing her to lie to him. 

“I promise dad, I understand. I am ok.”

“If you say so, my seal pup.”

“Ill come find you later and maybe we can eat dinner together?”

Hakoda smiled, “I would love that. I will see you tonight.”

He left her alone with Aang and she let out a low sigh, stomping her foot on the ground three times, Toph poked her head out of a opening that appeared in the sand. 

“We good to go Sugar Queen?”

With heavy chest full of guilt, Katara nodded. “Yeah Toph, I’m ready.” She stepped into the tunnel with her friend and made her way to where Zuko was being held. Toph was happy that her ability to bend sand was improving and so was Katara. It would make it easier for her to sneak into Zuko’s tent this way. Toph’s spent the early afternoon creating a tunnel system for her and Katara to use in order to gain access to Zuko and Iroh. 

Her guilt vanished when she pulled herself out of the tunnel and her eyes meet with Zuko’s eyes, and a small smile appeared on his lips. 

“Katara, you’re back.” His voice raspy and excited. She smiled back at him, a pink tint crossing over her cheeks. 

“Hi Zuko, I am here to help you, I am happy to see you are awake. How do you feel?”

He shrugged, “fine I guess. I don’t remember what happened. I just remember hearing something that sounded like the ocean and then I fell asleep. I do remember feeling an intense rush of pain. You told me that I should be in pain, right?”

Katara frowned, “you felt pain? How much pain and where was it?”

Zuko looked down at the sand, “I felt a lot of pain, and it was everywhere.”

Katara pulled water out of her water skin to scan his body, which was still broken and bruised. The wound on his side was not healed all the way because she had to do such a rush job. After looking him over she decided to slip her time in half. She would spend the first part of the healing session working on his numerous amount of injuries, and the second half working on healing his mind. 

She started with the wound on his side, while she was working she could feel a few fractured ribs. Bone was the most difficult thing for her to heal, the amount of training she needed to do bone was not available to her when she was in the North. Splitting her time up between fight training with Master Pakku and healing training with Master Yagoda, there just weren’t enough hours in the day. 

It would take years to be as good of a healer at Master Yagoda, and she didn’t have that kind of time when Aang still needed an earth bending teacher. She considered herself a fast learner, but even with her ability to learn quickly, she really only felt confident with the basics of healing. If someone had internal bleeding or broken bones, she was not prepared to handle that. As for open wounds, and bruises, Katara felt confident in healing those. 

Healing took a lot of energy so it would take multiple sessions to heal all of Zuko’s injuries. He had more broken and bruised skin then he did untouched skin. The pain he described worried her, she was going to try and heal his injuries before his brain allowed the pain to become his reality again. There was no way he would escape not feeling any pain, but she would try to make it bearable. 

After almost an hour she sat back, wiping the sweat from her brow. She was able to completely heal the injury that Bato gave him on his side. She was able to heal the cuts and bruises that littered his stomach and chest. She had to stay extremely focused to not get distracted by the fire bender’s warmth, which wasn’t there before he was taken by the Dai Li the second time.

When she was healing someone, there was a barrier of water between her and directly touching her patient. Sometimes she wondered what it would feel like to actually touch him, and if he was warmer without the water barrier?

Shaking her thoughts away she stood up and moved closed to Zuko, “this might be weird, but I need to sit in between your legs and heal you facing forward. I can’t go from behind you like I have before because you are restrained, so I will have to come from the front. Is that ok?”

“Uhh.. I think so. Are you ok with that?”

“Yes, its just for healing purposes.”

“Yes, healing purposes.”

Toph chuckled, she was working on her sand bending in the far corner of the tent, and obviously paying close attention. Lucky for Katara she knew that blind earth bender couldn’t see her pink cheeks and could not feel her pounding heart through the sand. 

Katara moved towards Zuko and he separated his legs for her, his knees up in the air and his feet buried in the sand. She wasn’t sure why this was so weird for her, she had healed him before, and it wasn’t awkward. 

Maybe because now that she was close to him, she could feel his hot breath on her neck?

Or she could see him looking at her, even if it was with his hazy and dilated eyes. 

It made her think, _how gold were his eyes again?_

No, she was not going to think that, she was going to put her healing hands on his head and try and help him recover, not let her thoughts drift. What would Sokka say? Or her dad? 

“I think we did good with the last session and pushing through what the Dai Li did to you, do you remember everything about that experience?”

“Uh.. I think so.. It’s kind of fuzzy, but I remember a lot. I know how I got here, and who you are and Aang, I remember Toph, over there. I also remember your brother, and I remember you being mad at him for buying me red. So he gave me his green. I remember being taken, when I was gone it’s a little blurry but I doubt I want to remember that, so we can move on to something else. I would like to remember the guy I am chained up with. He says he is my Uncle. So maybe we can try to remember him.”

Zuko let his head drop a little so she could put her hands on the sides of his temples, they began to glow as she pushed into his mind. 

“Sounds good to me, try and recall what you can about your Uncle. Try to recall your earliest memories with him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was in the palace again, she knew because she remembered it from previous memories. The deep red walls and pale gold floor seemed to be a consistent theme throughout Zuko’s memories. She saw a younger adult Iroh walking down the hallway, he looked around her dad’s age. She couldn’t be sure. He walked next to a taller boy that was with him. She remembered his face, it was the boy from the beach. He was tall with dark brown hair and honey brown eyes, he wore a genuine smile and he and Iroh were laughing. 

She saw a small Zuko coming down the hall, he was looking down at the floor and didn’t seem to notice his uncle and his son approaching him. Katara couldn’t help but laugh when Zuko slammed right into his uncle’s stomach, sending the boy stumbling back a few feet. Iroh was not a big man, he was shorter and very broad and strongly built. 

The small Zuko’s eyes went wide and his arms began to shake just slightly, “I am so sorry Uncle, I didn’t mean to…”

Iroh reached his hand out and Zuko closed his eyes and flinched, but Iroh set his hand gently on the boy’s shoulder and smiled. “It is nothing to worry about Prince Zuko, you seem like you had a lot on your mind. It is understandable for someone so young to be distracted at times. Where were you headed?”

“Oh, I was going to my room, what are you guys doing?” Zuko’s eyes went to Lu Ten who smiled down at his baby cousin. 

“We were going to go play some Pai Sho, would you like to come?”

Zuko made a face where he scrunched together his eyebrows and his nose with his tongue sticking out. “I hate Pai Sho. You guys have fun playing without me.”

“Why Zuko!” Lu Ten got on his knee and touched his cousin’s shoulder. Zuko seemed to pay attention when the older boy spoke to him, “Pai Sho is more than just a game, it helps develop skills that you will use one day when you go off to war. Don’t you want to be a good leader one day Zuko?”

Zuko nodded eagerly, “Yeah I do.”

“Well then why don’t you join us, I promise I will make it fun. Not like my dad, who gets all serious when he plays…”

Lu Ten elbowed Iroh who smirked and chuckled. “You can not blame a General for taking a game of strategy too seriously! One day I might use something I learned during a game to do something important, like the penetrate the great walls of Ba Sing Se! Would you want your old man to miss the opportunity to take over the greatest city in the Earth Kingdom because he was having too much ‘fun’ playing a game?”

Lu Ten rolled his eyes, he didn’t seem to care about what Iroh said. “Oh hush dad, you don’t have to make everything about the war. Come on Zuko, we will have fun and leave the old man to dream about taking down the Earth Kingdom.”

Lu Ten grabbed Zuko’s hand and began to walk down the hallway. Zuko had a big smile on his face and eagerly followed his cousin, glancing back at Iroh with nervous eyes until he saw that he was smiling too. Turning back he looked up at his cousin and she could see the happiness in his big gold eyes. 

The memory faded and a new memory began to fade in. 

There was a long fancy table with elaborate Fire Nation décor, red’s and gold’s were present in the center pieces and the table settings. Fire Lord Azulon sat at the head of the table. He was old, and sitting on his right was Iroh and next to him his son Lu Ten. On the left was Ozai and then his wife Ursa, next to her was Zuko and then Azula. Zuko was still young, maybe around 6 or 7, they seemed to be having a family dinner. Servants brought food and refilled the wine for the men. Lady Ursa was beautiful as always, Katara was shocked by how much Azula took after her mother’s features. 

She also couldn’t help but notice that Zuko looked very similar to his father Ozai, but his eyes didn’t reflect any of the hatred and anger that his father’s did. Both Ozai and Iroh spoke of their latest battle strategies and some of their accomplishments that were made in the war. Iroh spoke with confidence and experience while as Ozai spoke with malice and inexperience. He seemed to be trying to undermine his older brother at every turn of the conversation. Fire Lord Azulon listened carefully to both boys but it was obvious he favored Iroh and his son Lu Ten. 

Katara felt sick as the men’s topic switched to war prisoner’s, and their demise. Ozai seemed particularly cruel during this part of the conversation and Katara noticed Lu Ten’s face twist into an annoyed expression.

The Fire Nation men seemed light hearted when they spoke about the death and destruction of the other nations. No wonder Zuko, and others thought the war was justified. The Fire Nation was taught that they had every right to be invading people’s lands. They spoke about it as if these weren’t people with families and lives, that the ‘lands’ weren’t people’s home. 

Katara tried not to get heated and let her emotion’s lose her connection. She found herself watching Lu Ten, he was older now. He was definitely a man, but a young one. He would often make expressions of distaste and annoyance when Ozai would speak, mostly because of the things he shared and his inability to extend any kindness. 

Ursa only spoke up after a lapse in conversation. 

“So how long do you think it will take you brave soldiers to breach the outer wall of Ba Sing Se?”

Ozai answered for them, his voice dripping with distaste for his wife. 

“As long as it takes… _Dear_.”

Lu Ten frowned. “We have strategized a two year plan, and our goal would be to break the wall within a year and then the following would be used to take the city.”

Ursa had a sadness in her eyes, but she spoke with elegance and poise. “Well we hope you will come back to the palace soon, your presence will be missed.”

Zuko looked up from the food he had been poking around his plate with his chop sticks. Katara noticed that was a Zuko trait, not a Lee one. She watched him do it enough at their campsite to recognize the movement. 

“I will miss you both…” Zuko said, softly. But enough that Iroh would hear him. He looked over at his small nephew and smiled, “we will be back before you even know it! I am sure you will be mastering the advanced fire bending set by the time we return.” 

Zuko smiled until Azula cut him off. “Yeah right, Zuzu here is still struggling with the basics. With any luck he will be able to do a full set of katas without falling on his butt before you return.” She smirked and her tone was cold but there was a hint of humor in her voice. She was not totally heartless yet. Perhaps that happened after her mother disappeared? She recalled Azula and Zuko having a conversation about their mom in one of the first memories she recovered, they were so young as they are now. 

Zuko frowned and glared at his sister. “Shut up Azula…”

Ozai’s head shot in Zuko’s direction, “how dare you speak to your sister that way. If you know whats good fo-“

Iroh cut Ozai off, Katara couldn’t believe it. 

“Now brother, they are young children. Fighting with each other is just part of growing up. Do not get so upset over words from such young people, they do not know what they say. You and I never fought like that because we were born so far apart. But Zuko and Azula were only born only a year or so apart, so bickering is to be expected. Especially two skilled fire benders.” 

Zuko smiled at Iroh and his uncle smiled back and gave the young boy a wink. But Katara saw the small whips of smoke coming from where Ozai clutched his chopsticks. His face was neutral in expression but the fire burned in his eyes. 

“You are right, _brother_ , I am sure everyone is on edge because of your departure. You will be missed here in the palace, as Ursa said.”

Ursa smiled and touched Zuko’s back lightly, the boy looked at his mom and smiled back. He looked happy, and he looked safe.

The memory moved to a brief glimpse of Zuko hugging his uncle tightly as he fought to hold the tears back. Iroh held his nephew in his arms, lifting his feet off the ground just a little. 

“I will miss you Zuko, don’t worry we will be back before you know it. Just remember to practice your fire bending, and don’t be too hard on yourself. I will be back to help you train as soon as we conquer the Earth Kingdom.” 

Zuko nodded and wiped the tears that were falling onto his cheeks. He was so young to be trying to act so strong, he couldn’t hide it when Lu Ten grabbed him and held him tight. He shed more tears.

“Ill be back soon little cousin, I expect you to be a sword master when I return. To hell with all the fire bending, we will conquer the rest of the world with our blades. How does that sound?”

Zuko nodded and hugged his cousin, burying his face in Lu Ten’s chest as the young man buried his face in the top of Zuko’s hair. 

“I love you Zuko, I will miss you so much. Please… Be safe while I am gone. If you need anything, please tell your mom.”

Katara could tell there was more that Lu Ten wanted to say, but didn’t. Instead he ruffled Zuko’s hair, messing up his phoenix tale and went to stand next to his father. Both man turned to the crowd of nobles and military figured and waved their goodbyes. 

Katara found it so odd to see the war from this side. 

The Fire Nation truly thought they were fighting a righteous war, and that this was all ok. Men going off to conquer lands and kill people. That burning down anyone who resisted was just, ‘part of war’. Everyone viewed these men as hero’s, off to do good things for their nation. While the rest of the world cowered in fear as the Fire Nation marched their armies in and slaughtered them. 

The memory left and a new one appeared, before Katara could really see what was happening she felt Zuko’s mind pulling her in a different direction. 

Like his mind was trying to break the connection and pull out of her grasp. She tried to hold on, thinking this must be something the Dai Li did to him, that made him want to pull away. 

She looked around the memory, the room was dark, there was a candle flickering on a table next to a small bed. The rocking of the room insinuated that they were on a ship. She could smell the ointments, the thick smell of burn cream and a hint of burnt flesh. Her stomach turned as she squinted trying to see what was happening. The memory was fading but she heard the faint sound of a man crying, she saw an older man sitting in a chair by the small bed, holding a small hand while he wept. 

Before Katara could see anything else the memory was gone and she was back in the tent. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zuko gasped for air as Katara pulled her hands off his head, feeling a sudden weakness overcome her senses, she fell forward. Zuko’s hands were chained behind his back so he wasn’t able to catch her. She fell face first into his neck and chest. Realizing what happened she put both her hands on his chest, her hand slipping through a rip in his tunic. She scrambled to push herself away from him. 

He was warm.

He was warm, and his skin was soft. 

He was warm, his skin was soft, and he smelled like a campfire. 

She stumbled back and sat on her butt, using her legs to scoot back until she was far enough away from Zuko she couldn’t feel his body heat or smell his sent. She laid back in the cool sand and closed her eyes, breathing in and out.

Zuko spoke first.

“So.. You are my uncle.”

Iroh answered, “yes I am, which is why I am here, chained up with you nephew. What did you see if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I saw you and Lu Ten. A lot. I saw you two in the hallway of the palace, and we went to go play a game. I remember playing Pai Sho with you both… Vaguely, I think we played a lot. I saw us eating dinner, you stood up for me against my… Father… I saw us in a dark room… I think it was us. You were crying? Why would we be in a dark room and why would you be crying?”

Katara sat up, her curiosity pushing through her fatigue. 

“I am not sure nephew. Maybe, it would be better for you to allow Katara to help restore your memories, rather then having me creating them for you with my stories.”

“Ok.. I guess.” He didn’t mean satisfied with the answer, but he was too tired to argue.

Katara smiled, “it is much easier doing this with someone who knew him way before the Dai Li got their hands on him. I mean.. I knew him, but I didn’t know him. I still don’t know him, I just know the little I have seen and the few interactions we have had.”

Zuko seemed to perk up, “you met me before, right? But… You didn’t like me…” His face looked sad, and his head tilted towards the floor. 

Katara felt an urge to go and hug him, to tell him she didn’t really know him and he was different now. 

Or maybe he wasn’t… 

Would he go back to being how he was before? That was the big question that kept swirling in her mind.

Would she restore his memory and he would go back to yelling and fighting, while trying to capture Aang?

Was she wasting her time here trying to help him recover? 

“Zuko…” Her voice sounded like it was far away, “I don’t think you liked yourself… Much less, cared if anyone you met liked you. I hope that it will change once we are done healing you.”

Iroh chimed in, “nephew, you have the choice to decide your own destiny. What Katara is showing you is where you came from, but she can not show you what your future is because you have not determined that yet. You can be anyone and do anything you want. Please remember that as you begin this journey of rediscovery.”

Zuko didn’t say anything but he nodded, Katara was disappointed to see the same small sliver of gold. Nothing changed in his eyes yet, but he handled the sessions well. In the pit of her stomach she knew that no matter what she did, they would most likely stumble on more memories of cruelty. 

“Uncle Iroh, while I am gone I need you to talk to him about the times you spent together, try and jog his memory with your stories. Try to keep everything light, positive, happy memories. Nothing dark, nothing painful. Can you do that?”

“Yes Katara, I can do that.”

She couldn’t help but look at his scar. Eventually, she would see how that happened, and something in the pit of her stomach told her it would not be any easy memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay in the update - :( I try to get at least a chapter each week.
> 
> To make it up to you, the next chapter will be out in a couple of days and it will be mostly Zuko memories! Yay!! <3
> 
> So buckle up, lots of angst coming your way. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and I love love love reading your comments they always inspire me to keep going! I love the suggestions I have received for ideas for memory ideas. I will be using a few of them. Any suggestions just drop them in the comment section 
> 
> Side Note: Don’t take the ages Katara is estimating Zuko to be too seriously. If the age is really important and needs to be specifically shared I ill make sure it is. <3
> 
> :D


	8. Iroh’s Confession

# Iroh’s Confession

No one noticed Katara slip next to Sokka just before dinner was ready. The Water Tribe men had three large fires burning in the center of camp, and two big pots full of seaweed stew and smoked seal jerky for dinner. Sokka was seated by the fire, laughing and joking with the other men as they exchanged tales of their travels. 

“Oh man, you think that’s gross? I have to tell you about the time when Aang made us suck on frozen frogs! So Katara and I-“

Katara stopped paying attention to Sokka when she caught sight of her dad from across the fire. He was sitting down talking to Bato and two other men who looked familiar, but she couldn’t put a name with a face. They seemed to be caught in a deep conversation and as much as Katara wanted to eavesdrop, she knew if she wanted to keep sneaking into Zuko’s tent to heal him, she needed to lay low. 

No arguing with her dad.

No breaking the rules, at least not publicly. 

And definitely, no telling Sokka. 

He would rat her out to their dad in a heartbeat. He wasn’t particularly a big fan of Zuko to begin with, and if he found out she was sneaking around in underground tunnels that she had Toph built together, he would probably be pretty pissed. Another part of Katara thought that deep down, he might be impressed, he loved sneaky plans and could appreciate complex earth bending. 

She looked at her brother and smiled. He seemed so happy sitting by the fire, exchanging stories with the other Water Tribe men. For the first time, Sokka actually had interesting stories to share. Traveling with the Avatar gave him more exciting and captivating tales, instead of his typical ‘the other day I found a really big fish and I almost caught it’! 

Katara giggled softly to herself before she turned her attention back to the fire. It was strange now, every time she saw a fire, she thought of Zuko. It was weird to her, how after only a few weeks, she was feeling herself grow more attached to the fire bender. He was the face of the enemy for so long, chasing them, trying to capture Aang… But now when she thought of him, all she could see was his smile and how he wanted to help her wash dishes and help prepare dinner. She saw him lying with Aang listening to him tell stories of the Air Nomads, and how he pushed his food around his plate awkwardly. 

A small collection of heat was pooling in her stomach, she felt that heat raise up to her cheeks. 

What in the world was going on with her?

Her dad finally came over to where she was sitting and they had the chance to talk. Both father and daughter danced around subject’s that made them uncomfortable and knew could potentially trigger an argument. They both played it safe and spoke about her training in the Northern Water Tribe, and some of her favorite new water bending moves. 

They spoke about Hakoda’s adventures out at sea. He told her about how his fleet was being called the Sea Wolves, and that they had Fire Nation cruisers running from them when they came into view. He seemed proud of his crew’s accomplishments, although Katara could see the sadness in his eyes. She knew he felt guilty for leaving her and Sokka back home in the village, but it was the right thing to do. She had accepted that a long time ago, even though it hurt her to think about.

Fate worked out for her, because she was left behind, they found Aang. Which is the best thing that could have ever happened to Katara. It changed her life in a way that she couldn’t put into words, and now she was making her mom proud by fighting for the good and helping people along their way.

They were interrupted by one of the medics the Water Tribe had traveling with them, “Chief Hakoda!”

Her dad looked up from his stew, “what is it Tullok?” The man’s face was red and it looked like the bottom part of his tunic was a bit singed. He was about Hakoda’s height but built like Bato, wide and strong. He didn’t wear any beads and all his sandy brown hair was pulled into a low wolf tail. 

“That… FIRE BENDER… In there… He can, BREATHE FIRE. I am not going near him again. I tried to help him like you told me and he wouldn’t let me touch him. He just snarled at me and then BREATHED FIRE at me. I tried Chief, but I am not putting my neck on the line for no ash maker. You want him healed, you can do it yourself. I am not getting burnt.”

Before Hakoda could respond Tullok dropped the bandages and various salves he was carrying on the ground. He turned and stormed off, some of the men poking fun at him as he stormed by. 

Hakoda pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He could feel Katara staring at him. He knew she was letting him have this moment before she began pestering him again. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced over at his daughter who was staring at the medical supplies that were laying in the sand. 

“I know you think this is funny.”

Katara smirked, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, dad.”

“I can’t let you be the one to heal him Katara, it’s not safe. Even if you think it is… You didn’t see the way he... Switched.”

Katara frowned, “switched?”

“One minute he was being cooperative and passive, the next minute he was snarling and kicking fire, standing above you. My daughter, the girl I raised, the girl I love more than anything in the world. Do you understand the sheer terror that went through my mind, an aggressive fire bender was standing over my daughter throwing fire at my men. I know you don’t understand why I make the decisions that I do, and I know you don’t always agree to them… But I make them because as the Chief because I have to protect my Tribe from any threat. I know you care for these fire benders, that much is clear but until I come to a decision, I need you to respect my word. Right now, I can’t have you in there with him, he is dangerous. I’m sorry Katara.”

Katara looked away, watching the fire dance into the night air, and for the first time since arriving at camp she understood where her dad was coming from. But that wasn’t going to stop her from helping someone that needed her. Right now Zuko needed her help, he was sick and hurt and she could not turn her back on him.

“I understand, dad, I will respect what you say. I am tired from healing all day, so I am going to go to my tent and get some sleep. Which one was I in again?”

“I will show you, come with me.”

Hakoda led Katara to a smaller tent far, far away from where Zuko and Iroh were being held. Her and Toph were sharing a tent as the only two females in camp. She was ok with it, especially since her and Toph were going to break into Zuko’s tent again… And again… And probably again.

“I am proud of you Katara, thank you for being so understanding. Your mom would be proud of the woman you have become.”

Katara beamed at the compliment, and in her heart she knew her mom would be proud. Reaching up, Katara touched the small stone on her mother’s necklace. She knew her mom would approve of her healing Zuko, she always had a soft spot for people who needed help, she wasn’t the type of woman to turn her back on anyone. Fire Nation or not.

Katara knew her mom would have been serving her dad burnt fish for every meal because he wouldn’t let Katara heal Zuko outright. She probably would have helped sneak Katara in to heal Zuko, and then drank tea with his uncle and told stories of the Water Tribe and Fire Nation. Her mom was like that, a kind and accepting person, she missed her so much. The ache never went away, not matter how many years passed. She found herself finding her mother in any situation, always wondering what Kya would do in that moment. 

Tears began to glisten in her big blue eyes, Hakoda reached out and hugged his daughter before wishing her a goodnight. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Toph was waiting in the tent already, arms crossed standing next to her bedroll. 

“About time! I have been waiting here forever!”

“I’m sorry, I had to eat and then talk to my dad. I can’t be too obvious, if we get caught I am going to get in so much trouble. I can already see my dad and Sokka pacing around and yelling at me! Who knows what they would do to Zuko and his uncle, I have to be careful!”

Toph groaned, “whatever, Rebel Girl, let's get going.” Toph stomped her foot, opening up the entrance to the tunnel in the sand and they both hopped in. Katara had to follow close to Toph because there was no light under the earth, they were deep enough to bypass all the sand and use stone to make a secure tunnel. The earth was cool to the touch, and the air was moist from the ocean that was touching the shore close by. 

Light poured in as Toph opened the tunnel exit, she pushed her and Katara up out of the earth and into the sand once again. Katara saw Zuko first, he didn’t look very happy, his breathing was shallow and his jaw was tight from frustration. 

“Are you ok?” Katara asked him. Afraid to get too close, just in case he was slipping into the Dai Li control again. 

“Yeah I’m fine, that man… He came in here and tried to touch me and I don’t know why but I couldn’t do it. I could not let him touch me. I just wanted him to go away-“

Iroh cut in, “my nephew has never been a very physical person, even before his interaction with the Dai Li. I know the kind man was just trying to help, but in a way this is more Prince Zuko than anything. I know he didn’t mean to breathe fire at him.”

Zuko frowned, “stop calling me that. ‘Prince Zuko’, I don’t want you calling me that.” He looked at Katara, “I swear, I didn’t even know I could breathe fire… I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t a lot… Is he ok? I didn’t mean to burn him if I did…”

Katara smiled and moved closer to Zuko. “He is fine, you just burnt the bottom of his tunic. You scared him half to death, but he is going to be fine. I don’t think you even singed his skin. Besides that, how has everything been going for you two since this morning?”

Zuko closed his eyes and dipped his head, “Iroh.. I mean… Uncle has been telling me a lot about our relationship and who I was before and how we know each other. It's just a lot… Are you here to help me again?” His black eyes met her blue, she felt the disappointment when she saw his eye’s were still lost and empty. 

“Yes, of course. That iswhy I am here, I want to help heal you. My job as a healer is to help anyone in need. I am so sorry my dad is treating you both this way. I don’t know what has gotten into him, he has never been like this before. I am so frustrated with him, but if I want to keep sneaking in here to help you then I need to lay low. So if you don’t mind me touching you Zuko, I am going to work on your arms and neck before I recover your mind. Is that alright?”

Zuko just nodded, Katara rolled up what was left of the sleeve on his tunic and began working on the bruising and the cuts there were from the Dai Li. Iroh started talking to her while she worked.

“Do not blame your father for the precautions he is taking to ensure the safety of his crew. We are technically the enemy, and if the roles were reversed and the Fire Nation captured your father and his men. Well… I can assure you they would not be taken prisoner and given medical treatment. Unfortunately that is what happens during war, and it is no one’s fault, but the man who continues the fighting in his pursuit to burn the world.”

Katara understood where Iroh was coming from, but she didn’t believe that her father had to treat them this way. They were not a threat and if he would just listen to her, then none of this would be happening. But she couldn’t help but think about what her dad shared with her while they sat at dinner tonight, he was scared for her safety. He was scared of her getting hurt, or worse. She understood that, even if she didn’t agree with it.

Her heart felt tight when she saw Zuko’s pale skin appear under the bruises as they faded, but she could see small scaring that would not be healed by her water bending. They were left from years ago, as she moved up his arm to his bicep she could see his muscle twitch under her touch. 

Unlike her brother, who was more lanky, Zuko had muscle mass. It had deteriorated a lot since their first encounter all those months ago. Being under the lake with the Dai Li did a lot of damage to his physical appearance, he was far too thin, but he still had some of his muscle left. She saw two light scars on his bicep that were in the shape of a large hand, in two different spots. Someone wouldn’t be aware of them unless they were as close as she was. 

Katara pushed away her wandering thoughts and controlled her anger as she continued to heal him, moving on to his second arm. 

After some time she was finished with healing his body, well, healing it to a certain point. Katara felt an awkward tension settle in her chest as she bit her lower lip. “Zuko, I ummm.. I need you to move your legs so I can get closer to you, so I can work on healing your mind.”

Zuko nodded and spread his legs apart, propping his knees up. Katara moved closer to him until she could touch his head comfortably. His warm breath lightly touched her collar bone, a small shudder went down her spine.

Which she ignored. 

This was Zuko, damn, Prince Zuko, the guy who tied her to a tree and burnt down Kyoshi Island. 

_Just remember his angry glare and awful haircut._

She smiled to herself and looked down at the boy who couldn’t possibly be the same Prince Zuko. If it wasn’t for the scar she would be second guessing if this fire bender was in fact, Prince Zuko. 

“Ok Zuko, I need you to think about your Uncle Iroh. Try to remember what you can about him. Hopefully if we do this again you will have more access to your memories of him and you two can go back to having the sweet, but slightly confusing relationship, we all know and love. Sounds good?”

She heard Iroh chuckle. 

Zuko didn’t say anything but he gave a soft nod. Her water began to glow as she closed her eyes

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She saw a Zuko she recognized, he was closer his age, present day. His hair was shaved except for the phoenix tale he wore bound in a red ribbon. His shoulders broad, probably more so that he wore his black and red Fire Nation armor. He was moving through his katas on deck as Iroh watched from a Pai Sho table, drinking a cup of tea.

“You forget the basics Prince Zuko! The fire comes from the BREATH, not the MUSCLE.”

She saw Zuko scowl and growl in rage as he threw his hands down and flames shot across the metal deck. They were on a ship and by looking at the ice in the water they were either very far North or very far South. 

“You must control your anger, Prince Zuko!”

Zuko turned sharply and glared at Iroh, “I AM TRYING!”

Smoke filtered out of his mouth and nose and he threw a few uncontrolled fire blasts into the water. A hiss of steam rising out of the ocean made Iroh shake his head in disappointment.

“I know you are still upset about your banishment, it has only been a year since the incident. But if you do not gain control of your anger you will not be ready for the advanced set-“

Zuko moved closer to his uncle, his face only inches from the old man. “Do not…. Speak about that.”

Zuko turned quickly and stormed off the deck. 

There were a few more memories showing Zuko being enraged at his uncle, and taking out his frustration verbally to the old man. Iroh did nothing to retaliate, he simply took the outbursts from Zuko and allowed him to be angry. Katara was surprised how well the man known as ‘The Dragon of the West’ controlled his anger, or perhaps he wasn’t even angry with Zuko. If there was any anger, he never showed it, and he never once lashed out at his nephew.

Zuko did enough lashing out for them both.

The memories faded into a different time, no longer was Zuko a hot headed teenager stuck on a boat searching for the Avatar, he was back in the palace. Zuko looked a little younger than Aang was now. His hair was still long and tied into a phoenix tail, but he had a full head of hair, not the shaved style that Katara disliked so much. He was sitting under a tree, his head tucked into his knees, he had curled himself into a tight sitting position.

Iroh was walking down one of the palace’s many long hallways, it was dark outside and the palace was quiet. Iroh stopped at the window and stared out into the garden where Zuko was sitting, the older man’s eyes looked glazed over and full of pain. She saw Iroh’s gaze finally rest on Zuko, he watched the boy for a while until Zuko looked up and made eye contact with him. 

They stared at each other for a long moment before Iroh gave a small nod and moved on, walking down the dark hallway, his eyes cast down to the pale gold floor. 

She saw the heartbreak in Zuko’s eyes as he watched his uncle disappear out of the scene. Zuko’s eyes filled with tears as he put his head back into his knees. She could hear the faint whispers float through the garden. 

_Mother didn’t want you so she left. Lu Ten is dead and now uncle can’t even stand to look at you. You are truly alone… No one will ever love you. You are worthless, and weak just like Father said._

The memory shifted as the voice was still whispering in the background. 

Katara found herself in the palace again, away from the garden this time. She saw Zuko running up to Iroh, he had a huge grin on his face. He seemed to be the same age as the previous memory, but lacking all the sadness. He was tall for his age and built strong, his golden eyes were sharp and full of happiness. 

“Uncle! You’re back!! When did you arrive!?” The sheer amount of joy that was displayed on young Zuko’s face made Katara’s heart warm. He was dressed in training clothing with his arms exposed and Katara could see the faint bruising and traces of burns littering the boy’s skin. 

Iroh looked at his nephew, but he was not truly seeing the boy. He was distant and so unlike the man that Katara had come to know in the short time they spent together. Iroh didn’t smile, he just looked at Zuko and nodded.

“Hello, Crown Prince Zuko, I sailed in last night. I thought you would have been made aware of my arrival.”

Zuko shook his head, “no one told me, but no one really tells me anything. I am just so glad you are back! How was your spirit journey? Did you have fun? Did you meet any spirits? Will you take me on a spirit journey one day?” 

Iroh didn’t answer any of Zuko’s questions, he just nodded. “I will be leaving again shortly. I will only be in the palace for a fortnight and then I will be departing once more. I do not know how long I will be gone this time.”

Katara could see the excitement shatter in Zuko’s eyes, replaced by devastation. “You’re leaving again? But… B-But why? This is your home. Your family is here… We want you to stay… I want you to stay….” He whispered softly, “please… Don’t leave me alone with them…”

Zuko looked down at the ground, trying to stifle the emotions that echoed in his voice. Still, Iroh looked distant and detached. Even with his young, heartbroken nephew standing right in front of him trying to earn his attention. He seemed to be unaware of the interaction he was having, just that Zuko was there and he had to respond when he spoke.

“My family… Yes.” Iroh scoffed. “My family is not here anymore... I am sorry Prince Zuko, this is what I have to do. I can not stay here right now, but I will return.” He lightly touched the boy’s shoulder as he moved past him and continued walking down the hallway. 

Zuko watched him go, wiping his dry eyes, he looked down at the ground and rubbed one of his arms. He glanced up one more time at Iroh’s back before walking away in the opposite direction. 

Katara knew the feeling, she had felt that type of pain before, the aching hurt of betrayal when someone you love and trusted turned their back on you.

The pain was the same feeling she had when her dad left her and her brother back home. She remembered the hurt that broke her heart as she watched her dad’s ships sail off into the horizon. They left at dawn, so the sun was just peaking over the edge of the sea, pouring beautiful pinks and oranges into the darkness. Katara was never an early riser but now she avidly avoided sunrises, the early morning glow always brought out the painful memory of watching him leave her behind.

Katara was surprised that Zuko’s mind was allowing so many memories to be recalled, it must have something to do with the conversations Iroh was having with him. Maybe if he talked about his past more it would help his mind loosen up and start to heal on its own? 

It was as good a guess as any.

This memory was fuzzy, but it was still clear enough for Katara to see what was happening. She saw Zuko practicing in an outdoor arena. Her heart began to beat faster, she expected to see Ozai standing there ready to strike down his son. 

But he wasn’t there, Zuko was alone except for the few servants that stood by.

He was older now, possibly older than Aang but not by much. It was hard to tell. He was still thin but he had decent muscle mass for his young age. His shoulders were strong and he only wore a lightweight pair of red and gold training pants. His bright gold eyes reflected off the sun as he worked through his fire bending. He missed a step, resulting in frustration, he grabbed the sides of his hair and groaned at his failure to complete the basic set. He threw both of his arms down, shooting a small puff of flames onto the floor. 

“You have improved greatly, Prince Zuko.” 

Zuko turned quickly to see his uncle standing at the sidelines, his hands tucked into his sleeves. Katara was surprised that Zuko didn’t run up to him to give him a hug. He didn’t even smile. Instead he just stood where he was and gave a small Fire Nation bow. She could tell Iroh was surprised as well, but he returned the bow nonetheless. 

“Uncle, you have returned. It has been a while.”

“Yes it has, I missed you Prince Zuko, we should have some tea and discuss everything that has been happening in your life. I am eager to hear about your studies, how your training has been going and perhaps if you have any lady friends…” Iroh chuckled a little, smiling brightly at his young nephew. He looked like he was back to the Iroh she knew him to be, kind and full of life with gentle eyes.

She saw Zuko flush slightly as he walked over to a servant that handed him a fresh towel. He began wiping off his sweat and gave his uncle a small forced smile. Katara could see the hesitation in Zuko’s young face. His golden eyes shifted to the floor. 

“Not today Uncle, maybe some other time.” He draped the towel around his neck and moved past Iroh, exiting the arena. 

“Alright Prince Zuko, I will be here when you are ready.” Katara could hear the pained tone Iroh used; she saw the hurt in his eyes as Zuko left and didn’t respond. 

Katara began to let go when she felt his mind flicker, as if it was trying to recall something but was having trouble. Katara pushed deeper into his mind. Using her strength to try and pull the struggling memory out. She felt the resistance, but she didn’t let go, finally the images began to fill in around her. 

They were back in the dark room, she saw the familiar low flickering light illuminating from the small candle that was lit in the room. The memory was very fuzzy, like last time. Even though it wasn’t exceptionally clear right now, she could see Iroh in the darkness. He sat in a metal chair, next to a small bed. 

The candle’s flame seemed to be moving erratically. 

Katara moved closer, trying to get a better look, she saw a small boy laying in the bed, half his face wrapped in bandages. Katara knew who it was, instantly, and her hand instinctively went to cover her mouth. She felt the tears stinging the back of her eyes as she looked down at a young Zuko. He couldn’t be much older then Aang, he was around the age of the last memory she saw. 

_How could this have happened!?_

His breathing was too shallow, and not nearly consistent enough. The bandages on his face were spotted with blood, indicating an infection. Iroh held the small boy’s hand, crying softly and whispering prayers to the spirits. 

“Please… Agni, do not take him from me. I have failed him so much already, just like I failed my first son… Please, I will do everything and anything to protect him. I will give my life for his, just please, do not let him die. He doesn’t deserve this… He is a good boy… Please, I beg you.”

His voice was soft and broken, he spoke in between sobs. Katara watched a healer come in and pull at the bandages on Zuko’s face. 

“I will need to mix him up some more painkiller tea before we change his bandages. After he is out cold, I will need your help restraining him so I can attempt to treat the infection. It will be exceptionally painful so I don’t want to risk him reacting and hurting himself further.”

Iroh just nodded, not taking his eyes away from Zuko. “Will he…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, a soft sob escaping his lips. 

The healer knew what he was asking and she gently set a hand on the retired general’s shoulder. 

“The injury is extensive, it caused a lot of damage, the infection is spreading faster than I can treat it. If he lives… It will be a miracle. He will probably lose his left eye and ear. If the spirits find favor, he will live, but I will do everything I can to try and save him. I don’t have a lot of experience with burns this large, especially one on someone so young… I was just promoted from being a healer’s apprentice in the capital. I do not have a lot of experience on my own, but I assure you I will do everything I can to save the little Prince. He didn’t… He didn’t deserve this… Sorry, if I am speaking out of turn…”

She saw Iroh’s eyes leave Zuko and flash to the young woman who held her hands together staring down at the floor. Katara saw bright red and orange flames dancing in Iroh’s eyes, his brow furrowed as his intensity increased.

“No – he did not.” His voice was cold and dark, sending chills down Katara’s spine. 

He turned back to Zuko again, Katara could see the boy’s right eye was half open, watching them talk. He blinked slowly before his one eye rolled in the back of his head and the memory went blank. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara pulled away from his mind, she noticed after this healing session, she was not as tired as she had been after the previous ones. Zuko’s mind did a lot of the work that time, and it seemed to help when he was able to push the memories forward. She helped heal as he searched for them. Iroh’s presence was helping a lot, Zuko seemed to remember his time with Iroh well. Perhaps because his time with Iroh was his happier times, unlike some of the previous memories. 

The hesitation to pull the last memory forward worried her, Zuko couldn’t hide from his past. He needed to be comfortable recalling his painful memories just as well as he was pulling out his happier ones. She knew he harbored a lot of pain inside, and it was going to be a hard fight to help him remember and process that much pain. 

Katara looked at Zuko, his head was down, his dark hair was a little longer than it was back when they first found him with the Dai Li, but it was still on the short side and spiky. He didn’t look up when he felt Katara scoot away from him. She was surprised when he started speaking.

“So… I am… Confused.”

Iroh let out a long breath, “I am here to clear up anything you have questions about Pri- Zuko. If only we had some tea and could sit properly together, I feel like this is a conversation that could use some tea.”

Toph smirked from where she had been practicing her sand bending. “I might be able to help with that, gramps! I can remove the handcuffs while we are here in the tent and I’ll go fetch us some tea and a teapot.” 

Iroh smiled, “Do you have the key, my young friend?”

Toph snorted, “I am the world's greatest earth bender, I don’t need a key.” She strolled over to where Iroh was restrained and using her metal bending she bent the cuffs and chains right off of him. Iroh felt the instant rush of relief to have his arms back. Rolling his shoulders Katara saw him wince with pain. 

“Here, Uncle, let me help you.” She brought her water over to the old man and began to heal his shoulder pain. After a few minutes Iroh rolled his shoulders again and smiled. 

“Thank you Katara, I must say, you have an amazing gift. To be able to heal someone’s pain is truly extraordinary.”

Katara couldn’t help but smile, he was always so kind. If only her father could see it. 

Toph released Zuko as well, and the teenage fire bender let his arms go limp by his side. Katara went over to him to try and heal him the same way she did to Iroh. Toph tapped her foot, opening up the tunnel again. 

“Ill be right back Rebel Girl. I am going to get our tea pot and try to find some decent tea in this place. I’ll be back! Don’t do anything reckless while I am gone, I wanna be here to see it.” 

Katara rolled her eyes and smiled as the small earth bender disappeared into the ground. It was impressive that she could bend the sand like no one was ever standing there, much less an entire area had been opened into the deep earth and closed off again. 

Iroh walked over to his nephew and sat in front of him. “Zuko… How do you feel?” Zuko slowly lifted his gaze to make eye contact with Iroh, Katara could see more of the gold in his eyes. Her heart leaped with joy as she saw a small flash of recognition. 

“I am confused, like I said. But… I remember you. You were there for me… When we were on the ship. When I was on some kind of… Mission. Everything around you, in my mind, is fuzzy. If that makes any sense. I know who you are, and I know things about my life with you in it, but everything surrounding it doesn’t make sense…” 

Iroh reached out and pulled Zuko in for a hug, “I will explain everything to you, but I have to be honest, you might not want to hear some of it. There are a few things that I will need to leave to you and Katara to explore, I feel it would be better that way.”

Zuko nodded and hugged Iroh back, Katara could see his smile return. Iroh pulled away and lightly touched the unscarred side of Zuko’s face before he moved back and sat down across from his nephew. Katara sat down in between them, swirling her fingers in the sand. 

“So where do you want me to start?” Iroh asked.

Zuko shrugged, “from the beginning?” 

Katara realized she might be interrupting a moment between both Iroh and Zuko, “do you want me to leave? I don’t want to intrude on your private moment.”

Iroh smiled and shook his head, “no dear, you have every right to be here. After all, without you, Zuko and I would not be able to have this conversation. I was so worried about him when I saw him in those catacombs, and because of you and your healer’s touch I can speak to my nephew again.”

“As long as you are sure.”

“I am sure my dear, so Zuko, to start… I am your father’s older brother.” He chuckled. “Much older brother. I met you a month after you were born, you were born sick so I was unable to meet you right away. We have always been close, you and my… My son, Lu Ten, you two were very close. Like brothers.”

Katara could hear the shake in Iroh’s voice when he spoke about Lu Ten. She remembered seeing the playful, strong, opinionated boy from Zuko’s memories. 

“You two had a rather large age gap, a little over 10 years, but that didn’t stop you two from being best friends. You were so sad when we left for war. Lu Ten was expected to have a glorious and long military career, much like myself, before he would become Fire Lord. With being Fire Lord Azulon’s first born son, I was Crown Prince and in line for the throne, and Lu Ten would be after me. Fire Lord Azulon is your grandfather, he was Fire Lord before your… Father.

“We left for war when you were around 7 or 8, I can’t remember exactly. We were headed to Ba Sing Se to take the city and break through their great walls. It was a long journey, many, many soldiers were coming with us. It would be Lu Ten’s first battle, and he was so excited. You, ha, were not as excited to see us go.”

Zuko nodded, “I saw, I mean I remember… I was devastated and scared. I didn’t want you guys to go. I remember crying for weeks…”

“Yes, I can imagine, you were always a sweet and sensitive boy. It is one of my favorite things about you. We were planning to be gone for a little over two years, that is how long we assumed it would take to break down the outer wall. After that the troops would take the Lower Ring and we would return home to recuperate and then lead another round of soldiers back to Ba Sing Se to conquer the Middle Ring, and finally the Upper Ring. In theory, it was a great plan. We were prepared and Lu Ten was a strong and capable fire bender and swordsman.” 

Toph interrupted the story by loudly bursting through the sand, spraying tiny grains everywhere. 

“Alright! I am back! I have tea, I don’t know what you like, but I snatched some ginseng, it smelled the best. I have a tea pot and four cups! I didn’t get anything to make a fire, because, you know…”

Iroh looked happier than Katara had seen him look for the last few days. “Any tea that you bring me is greatly appreciated!” He stood and gathered the supplies that Toph had brought, Katara gave him some of her water as he prepared the tea. 

Toph sat next to Zuko and pushed her legs out in front of her, keeping her feet on the ground. “Man, I can’t believe they don’t have any guards standing outside the tent right now. I thought your dad was crazy about keeping people out of here?”

“I bet he dismissed the ones I scared off earlier and is trying to find new ones. Zuko scared the medic pretty bad earlier, so I am sure people aren’t jumping up to stand guard over the ‘fire breathing ash maker’.”

Zuko frowned, “I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t my intention to hurt him, I didn’t even know I could breathe fire.” His hands moved to rub his face, he smiled to himself, enjoying the use of his arms again. “Do you think we can get them to chain us up and still use our arms?”

Toph snorted, “the whole point of chaining you up like that is to keep you from fire bending. But if you can bend through your mouth they might bring you a muzzle.”

Zuko looked horrified, Katara giggled. “I am not wearing a muzzle. That’s crazy! Right Uncle?”

“Nephew I think it is best to let them do whatever it is that they need to do to feel safe. I am sure it won't be too much longer before they decide how to deal with us. If they decide to let us join their resistance then we will do that and I am sure they will let us move freely. If not, well then we might have a fight on our hands, which would be upsetting and not our intention.”

“I won't let it come to a fight, don’t worry Uncle Iroh, I will make sure my dad understands that he is overreacting.” 

Iroh just smiled in response, “tea is ready!” He proceeded to pour everyone a cup as they sat in a circle in the sand, taking a few cautious sips, the tea was very hot. 

Zuko made a face, “I don’t think I like this tea.”

Iroh laughed, “you may not remember much, but you are still my nephew deep down. You have never been a huge fan of ginseng tea, but you should drink it anyway it will help you get back on your feet. The tea is good for your soul.”

Zuko shrugged and took another small sip. 

“So where was I? Oh yes, we were marching to Ba Sing Se… Once we arrived we set up our camp and laid siege to the Great Wall for many, many months. It was a long and gruesome battle. Many losses on both sides… We ended up breaking through the wall half way to our goal, and soon after, our soldiers were beginning to move into the lower ring. The Earth Kingdom soldiers were fierce and fought bravely to keep our men out of their city. It was a bloodbath, but we were making headway. It seemed like victory would be upon us. It wasn’t until the 600th day, at noon… I received word….”

Tears were filling Iroh’s eyes as he spoke, everyone stayed silent to let the man work through his emotions. Zuko reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, they looked at each other and Zuko smiled at Iroh. That small gesture seemed to steady the older fire bender, so he continued.

“My son, Lu Ten, my only boy… Was killed leading a group of men into the city. He was never supposed to be that far into the battle, but he was very brave, and sometimes his bravery made him foolish. You have the same quality Zuko. You both charge into situations that are dangerous and don’t think through the potential consequences of your actions, you only see what you might accomplish. For Lu Ten, it cost him his life. After that, I abandoned the fight immediately, stricken with grief I ordered our troops immediate withdrawal. 

“I could not imagine putting another father or mother through the pain of losing a child, so I wanted to get my men and women home. We might have taken the city if I stayed, but at what cost? It apparent in that moment that there had to be more to life then fighting a war that was causing all this suffering. I didn’t return to the palace right away. I sent my Commander’s and their men home while I wandered the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom in my grief. I eventually made it back to where my ship was docked after many months of wallowing in my depression. 

“It was there that I learned… Of my father’s death, the disappearance of your mother, and your father’s coronation as Fire Lord. The betrayal was too much for my heart to handle, I knew if I wanted any kind future in the Fire Nation I had to return to the capital and show my respect. So that is what I did, but I wasn’t really and truly there. My mind was on other things, and my grief was still consuming me. 

“Grief is a dangerous emotion, in my experience, it is the most dangerous emotion of them all. Grief can lead to so many awful consequences. It is a mixture of emotions like anger and sadness, it can cause a person to give up on their life and to abandon relationships that need them… That is what happened to me. I was swallowed whole by my grief, I did not even challenge my younger brother for my right to the throne. Looking back I think of how much suffering could have been avoided if I would have had a clear mind and issued a Agni Kai challenge.

“My grief cost me more than my throne… When you, Zuko, tried to talk to me, or come close to me… All I saw was Lu Ten. I stayed away from you, and no matter what you did I could not face you. You reminded me of the burning sadness that was eating me alive and as a result I distanced myself from you. 

“It is my biggest regret… I will always remember you begging me to stay, you asked me to please don’t go. You told me, ‘don’t leave me with alone with them’ and I did. I left you in that palace to rot, I left you alone with the evil man to… Destroy you. I left anyway, and I ended up wandering until I found a way into the Spirit World.”

Toph sputtered on her tea, “wait, gramps, are you telling me you went to the Spirit World? How is that possible?”

Iroh smiled and poured himself more tea, giving the group a look as if to offer more, everyone politely declined. 

“Oh Toph, one day you and I will sit down and we will converse all about my Spirit World experience. But that is a distraction to this story. My journey took me to a place where I was at a crossword, I could either continue down a life of grief and loneliness, or I could choose a different path and find new meaning in my life. Of course, I did not know I was standing at this crossword, until I had to make the choice. I met a spirit, who I shall not name, who told me that I could have a second chance to be a father. I would be able to correct all the wrong in my life and fix the mistakes I made before, but it would be a much more difficult journey. I would suffer to bring life to this relationship and it would be a long battle, but if I was successful it would reap the reward I was searching for.”

Katara looked over at Zuko, he stared at his Uncle with intense eyes. He was beginning to look more human now that his bruises were faded and his cuts healed, his eyes were beginning to slowly look less dilated and the liquid gold was returning. She was eager to see his gold eyes again, she never had the opportunity to actually look at them. Her face turned the slightest hint of pink just thinking about it.

“So what did you do?” Toph asked, bending the sand around her in little waves.

“I asked the spirit what I would need to do to earn the opportunity to become a father again, and mend my mistakes. For you see, spirits do not give anything away for free, just like the spirits Tui and La, push and pull. There is a give and take, and I needed to know what my give was before I accepted my take. The spirit told me I would have to give up any future claim to the throne, and I would have to leave my military career behind. I would need to fully dedicate myself to restoring balance to the world and no longer fight for the Fire Nation rule. As I am sure you can imagine, I hastily accepted. 

“I was touched on the forehead and given a vision, an awful, gut wrenching vision of the future. I was told that after that point, I would be needed, and it would be my choice at that moment which would determine my future. I was free to do as I pleased until then, but if I wanted to protect my future son from further pain I should return to the capital as soon as I could. So I did, I abandoned my journey for Lu Ten and I returned for Zuko.” 

He turned to sit facing Zuko, “If I would have known… What my brother was doing to you and to your sister… I would have never left you with him. It is one of my biggest life retreats, I have spent every day after returning to the palace trying to make it up to you. I know you shut me out for so long, especially after… We left for our mission. But just know that my life is fully dedicated to you and restoring balance in the world. I am so sorry… For leaving you… I love you Zuko.”

Iroh reached forward and pulled Zuko in for another hug, holding him tight. He placed a hand on the back on his head, wrapping his fingers in the short, silky strands of his jet black hair. Zuko returned the hug, burying his face into his uncle’s shoulder. 

“It’s ok Uncle, I love you too. I know I do…” His voice was muffled and scratchy. Iroh pulled back to look at Zuko, whose eyes were red but dry. “I know I care for you a lot, when I see you I feel a happy feeling, and my shoulders relax when I hear your voice. I saw you in that memory and knew that you were important, I could feel it. I don’t want you to be upset, it's not fair to you. I saw how mean I was to you and I feel like I am the one who should be apologizing.”

“Oh Zuko… Prince Zuko. You have nothing to be sorry for. You were hurt, and afraid so you lashed out. I knew what I was signing up for when I stepped onto the ship with you. I can only hope that you continue to grow into the strong man I know you are destined to be. I can already see a change in you.”

Zuko smiled, he looked over at Katara for a brief moment before he was interrupted by a soft punch from Toph.

“You’re a good guy Sparky. Even if Katara’s dad insists on chaining you up.”

“Thanks… I still have so many questions though.”

“I am sure you do, nephew, but I believe we might need to save those for another day. It is getting late and we should allow these lovely ladies to get some sleep. We would not want to get them into trouble.”

Zuko nodded looking down he nervously twirled his finger in the sand. “So… We have to go back to being chained again?”

Katara sighed and nodded, “I will talk to my dad about it tomorrow, we will fix this whole situation, you have my promise.”

Zuko nodded without looking at her. Everyone began moving around to get back in position when a familiar voice broke their silence.

“Why am I not surprised? I expected this from you Katara, but Toph!?”

Katara spun around, blue met blue and her breath hitched in her throat.

“Sokka… Hi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all those who commented and gave suggestions! Zuko is starting to remember more, yay! 
> 
> I know some of you were upset about how harsh Hakoda is being, but he is a warrior and I wanted to depict him being a Chief who has been at war for the past 2 years. Don’t worry he wont be like that forever, but I wanted to say sorry to those that were thrown off by his OOC.
> 
> Next chapter will be almost all Zuko’s memories now that we have laid down some serious ground work. So be ready, heavy angst just giving you a heads up.
> 
> Love all of you! Thank you so much for your feedback and suggestions. I appreciate every single comment. <3 Ya’ll make writing fun! 
> 
> Please, drop me a comment :)


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